The Heroes of Olympus: The Black Legion
by The IronRAVEN xvx
Summary: The di Angelos were the only ones lucky enough to be hidden by Hades during WWII. Unknown to them, another boy survived. Frozen through decades and released to the present by a secret Underworld Legion, bearing the secret that would have changed the outcome of the war unaware. What future awaits him now that Gaea has laid her eyes on what she muses as her ultimate key to victory?
1. I

**(A/N:** Hey guys, this would be my first fic about THO series. Just for everybody to know, I'm working on three other stories and this is yet to be an official fic until I read the second book (Son of Neptune) since I am actually planning for this story to come out right after I read the second book. Anyways, this makes it like a preview chapter or something like that. I've always wondered how it was like in the Hades/Pluto Department and then I figured why not make something out? You're free to read and give feedbacks, they will be much appreciated.**)**

**Chapter One: Breaking Through the Ice**

"_**And foes bear arms to the doors of Death"**_

So cold…

It's all that has ever been. My entire world revolving around cold and silence. The feeling of the icy shards piercing through my skin, through my every cell, through my very soul, while drowning in endless and soundless slumber is everything that had been to me. It makes me feel so lifeless but yet it's the only assurance that I'm alive, locked in this deep sleep knowing almost nothing but endless cold and stillness. Almost…

I can still remember, faintly, but still I can, or part of it though, like some sort of torn out cloth with a barely recognizable design.

My final days were me running through the smoking field. Schneider, Etta and Fritz were right behind me. An explosion, Fritz screamed. There were shouts in foreign language. French, English or Dutch? I didn't know, I didn't seem to care anymore. We'd traveled a third of the world and our journey was filled with nothing but this endless struggle to reach that only safe place.

Schneider spun and sprayed his MP44 towards the voices. Etta and I knelt beside Fritz, foaming blood dripping from his lips and his legs bent in awkward ways. We all knew he wasn't going any further. A sickening sound of bullet hitting flesh, a muffled thud, and Schneider was sprawled beside our other friend, body riddled with bullets, eyes dull. An enemy turned loyal and reliable companion. We owed him so much and now he's gone.

I screamed. A veil of darkness surrounded my vision. Around me, explosions pounded the ground, guns rattled, dive bombers roared by as the Third Reich advanced and overwhelm what little resistance is left of France. All these sounds gradually toned down as my ears started to ring but not before catching a lot of footsteps heading for us. As grave as the situation might be, these men chose to pursue us than defend their doomed camp.

The men finally caught up with us, raised their guns and aimed, but shocked at what they've seen. I raised my hand aimed it at one of the men's throat and squeezed as if choking him. His reaction was immediate, grasping his neck, retching, gasping desperately for air. I squeezed tighter, a sound of a bone breaking, and he fell limp. The other men recovered from their shock quickly, like they were used to seeing someone like me. It's just that I was a little different.

I hit the ground instinctively and heard Etta's screams as bullets rattled her whole body. Coward. Selfish. These words rang loudly in my head as her body dropped on the ground next to me, barely recognizable. I screamed again, punched the ground and from it sprang hundreds of skeletons, long dead, long decayed with the only purpose of serving me. The men open fired but dropped their guns soon. After all, it was next to useless against my undead minions. They drew out their knives, gleaming a dull brownish colour; Celestial bronze. I went for Schneider's sword also made of the same metal which he never had a chance to use, unsheathed it, and prepared for a fight.

The fight lasted for about half an hour. I fought like a demon, which I probably was. The remains of shattered undead and fresh carcasses of men along with those of my friends littered the ground. I'm all alone now, or that's what I thought. A voice rang in my head, making me wince, warning me, to move away as fast as I can before its too late, to find the gate. There I would be safe, safe at last.

A sudden flash of light, my body arched from the thousand volts that shook me in a fraction of a second. I fell down, my nose flared from the burnt smell of my clothes. A boy emerged from the shadows not older than I was, fifteen? Sixteen? A torn aviator's jacket with cracked goggles hung from his shoulders and neck. Very similar from those worn by the dead airmen from a downed bomber we had passed earlier that day. His electric blue eyes fixed me a silent stare from his stoic but battle ridden face. I tried to stand but an earthquake knocked me off my feet. A sudden gush of waves slammed at me from behind, sweeping me away towards the edge of a cliff, I was helpless, I was weak, and I never wanted it to be like this.

Standing near the edge of the cliff, surrounded by the roaring rapids, was a girl also about my age, with tanned skin, jet black hair and sea green eyes, her hands were raised with twin golden daggers on both hands as she willed the currents towards the cliff's edge, towards my death. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. The next time I opened them, I was free falling, a hundred yards from certain death zooming ever so closer, with every second.

Thirty yards, twenty, ten, my mind drifted away but part of it still wished, still hoped, still prayed that the ground would simply open up and take me in, take me away from this place where I never belonged.

_SLAM!_

Darkness. Darkness for what seemed like eternity. When I finally regained my vision I was being carried, rough, bony but strong arms lifting my broken body. A man's face was the only thing I saw. His eyes known to bring sheer terror in a simple glance, were filled with sadness and despair. He spoke in a cracking voice as he carried me somewhere. On the way, he told me how sorry he was, for not being able to be there, for not being a father I desperately needed, for bringing me this fate.

The sound of moving water was soon heard. A drop of water fell on my cheek, and another, and another only to realize they were tears, tears from a weeping god. The God of the Dead weeping over his son's death, the irony of it, it makes me want to laugh despite of everything. The sound of the rushing water grew louder, just underneath me. He slowly began to lay me down, whispering his final farewell. Telling me how sorry he was that he couldn't save me like my two other siblings whom he managed to hide, the last of his sons or daughters.

As the cold, dark murky water swallowed me, my vision blurred and soon began to fade. My body went numb and the last I saw was him screaming out loud, so loud I heard it clearly from this depth. I let myself be swallowed and carried away by the water. For me, it was eternal rest. Rest at last.

And now, all of it was nothing more than just figments of memory, of how I used to be, and to be honest, I prefer being like this. Finding peace in a state where nobody would prefer to be in, away from the world where I was unwanted-

_BOOM!_

A loud explosion shook everything…

_BOOOOM!_

It was louder now, so loud I could hear the ice beginning to crack.

_BOOOOOOMMM!CRASH! FSSSSS!_

Another explosion and this time, I actually felt the ground beneath me give way with a hissing sound. A sudden flash struck my eyes. A flash? It was light, very faint but it seems to pierce my eyes as if I was staring at the sun. It is something I thought I'll never see again.

"C'mon, we have to move!" A voice said. It was a voice I'm sure of it. It's not coming from my mind. Not anymore.

"Percy, wait up!" A girl's voice called out. "What is this place?"

"It's the mouth of the river Styx, judging from all these ice." Another voice said, it was different than the first one, a little lonely and dark but only a little. There's also something familiar about him, like some long distant relative. "My father said to stay away from this place. It's like a tomb for someone or something, he won't tell."

"Nico, time to go! Those guys are dangerous, I can feel it but they seem familiar. Are you sure you don't know them?" The first voice said. It seems like he's their leader. This Percy, and who is this Nico? He said 'my father'. Can it be? What is going on? I need to get out of here!

"I told you I haven't seen them before but they are familiar. It's like me and they are-"

"Nico, watch out!" The girl cried in alarm. It was followed by the clanging of metal and then the sound of rushing water, like the one I've heard way back then when I was on the cliff.

My mind was slowly awakening along with my body as I gradually regain my consciousness. I began to breathe slow and painful breaths as my windpipe cleared. It clearly was something I haven't been doing for how long? I didn't know but I guess for a long time. The stiffness on my limbs was loosening and slowly, I began to move them. Fingers first then my arms and so on. My legs still seem to be trapped in the ice along with half of my body waist-down. The shouts and the clanging continued for another minute before a second wave was heard, after that, silence.

"What in Pluto…is that son of Neptune made of?" A new voice spoke after a few minutes, obviously out of breath.

"He's had the curse of Achilles. He's gotta be something." Another voice said, this time was from a girl's. "Ashton, what should we do now?"

"We split up." Another voice said, he sounded older and his tone had a hint of authority. "Michael and Patrick, try to go around them, there's a high chance that they'll try for the door of Orpheus, once you see them, shadow travel back to the rendezvous point where Rowena would be waiting to signal everyone. Cera and Ryan, you're with me, we stay on their trail. The rest of you, take up positions on the parameter around Erebus. Do not let them near that gate! Let's move!"

I could sense them. A second later, nine of them suddenly vanished. There were twelve of them, all emitting some kind of aura. The same as the one called Nico had. It's hard to explain. I began to claw my way through the opening in the ice. My bare hands felt numb from the cold but it doesn't seem to damage it in any way. With a great deal of effort, I pulled my lower body free. I then crawled towards the light, wincing, I tried to shout but my throat seemed to be shut tight so I resumed crawling closer and closer towards the light. I reached the tiny hole barely bigger than my fist. I took a peek but my vision was still all blurry, all I could make out was blurry black human figures on a greyish green background.

"Alright Cera, be our eyes." The guy named Ashton told probably that girl. "We are-"

"Wait a minute," The girl interrupted. "There's someone here, someone else."

"What do you mean?" Ashton replied cautiously. His blurry image seemed to lift a large two-handed sword. "Stay back, both of you."

"No, wait. " Cera interrupted, moving in front of him. "He's not one of them."

She was standing still, her neck craning from side to side, scanning the area she stopped on my direction.

"Break down that pack of ice there." Cera pointed right where I was.

"We're wasting time. Just tell me what it is."

"Just do it." Cera walked over. Ashton lay down his sword and followed her. The third was standing guard. They drew out their daggers and began chipping off the ice. After five minutes or so, they managed to pull me out. Cera gently laid me on the ground, the River Styx flowing overhead. My body still felt very much numb and I still can't move my lower body. My vision occasionally spun and I felt like vomiting right then and there.

"This guy is something. He survived despite being trapped in Stygian Ice!" Cera said in wonder.

"Half-blood?" Ashton asked.

"Definitely. No doubt about it." Cera placed her two fingers on my neck, checking my pulse. "Heart rate is low, temperature twenty-five degrees Celsius. He's apparently been trapped in here for quite a while. It's amazing, nobody even a half-blood can last for ten seconds if they touched pure Stygian Ice unless they're…" Cera paused, hit with realization.

Ashton grabbed a chipped piece of Stygian Ice and held for about a few moments before letting go. "He's a son of Pluto…"

Cera nodded and grasp my hand which has already lost much of its numbness. Her hand was slightly warm or is it just because mine's colder? She leaned down and whispered to my ear. Her breath was soothingly warm but her words sent a colder chill down my spine.

"Welcome back, brother."

**(A/N:** Well, that's all for the preview. I have to remind you all that the story, including this part, may change depending on how the second book will turn out. That's all for now, don't forget to leave a comment on how you guys think about this story. See ya! Iron Raven out…**)**


	2. II

**(A/N: **I know, I said I 'likely' won't be able to update the story until the next book comes out but I decided that this part of the story is very unlikely to be affected by the second book so here it is. It's just a little history lesson I made up to serve as a background for the story but I've based some parts on actual events, but only some of them.**)**

**Chapter Two: The Decision**

_September 29, 1939_

_27 days after the bombing of Warsaw, Poland and the Declaration of War on the Axis Powers…_

It was almost midnight. The full moon shone brightly on the clear California sky at the Craven estate, pouring its creamy glow at the wide grassy fields and the large white stone mansion sitting in the middle. The night was still and silent except for the chirping of nocturnal insects and the occasional cold, lonely howl of the wind as if the whole place is tense, expecting something.

The gates opened and a car, a black Auburn 1931 Convertible Phaeton Sedan, casually drove on the path towards the front of the mansion and pulling to a halt by the driveway. A large man in a plain black suit stepped off the driver's seat and hurriedly opened the back door. Inside, a middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit sat in a wheelchair. The car was modified where one of the back seats were removed so that a wheelchair may be able to fit. The driver assisted the man in getting out.

"Thank you Argus, you may wait here until I come back." The man in the wheelchair told the driver who simply nodded without saying a word and waited by the car. The man then wheeled himself to the front door which opened while he was half-way there. A tall, perky red-headed woman in her late forties ran off to meet him.

"Thank goodness Mr. Jones!" The woman exclaimed. "I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to make it! How are my sweet Eric and Eddy?"

"I tend to keep my promises Mrs. Craven." The man replied with a slight smile. "As for your Eric, he seems to be doing fine, better than we expected. His five years at camp had done him well. To tell you the truth, he is next in line in being the head councillor of the Apollo Cabin."

"And my Eddy?" The woman asked expectantly.

"I'm afraid that's one of the main reasons why Eric is next in line." Mr. Jones sighed and the woman's face fell.

"Can't I see him one last time before he leaves?" The woman asked; her eyes in the brink of tears.

"I'm afraid he has already left. Edward's in London now. Zeus has instructed that all half-bloods upon reaching the age of eighteen shall immediately be sent to Europe to help with the war effort."

Mrs. Craven couldn't hold it in anymore; she fell to her knees and started to sob. Mr. Jones wheeled himself beside her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "I am terribly sorry. But do have faith; the boy has amazing skills along with unique talents. I do not doubt his ability to survive out there and this comes from someone who's been observing him and personally trained him for five years."

"He doesn't belong out there!" The woman replied between sobs. "I-I do not know if I will ever see him again. Will my Eric be sent there too?"

"That is yet for us to know, madam." Mr. Jones sighed. "Nobody knows how long these war will last. Now that the mortal world has been greatly involved, we just have to pray it ends soon. It has already taken many lives, both mortals and demigods alike. I know you are anxious of him. He knew you would be that's why he didn't want you to know until he left. Even his girl back at camp only found out yesterday and she is just in despair as you are."

"What has Hades done!" The woman suddenly cried out. "Why does he want all these! Our children are dying out there and all for his stu-"

"Get a hold of yourself woman!" Mr. Jones cut her off, his tone raised a little but softened again upon seeing the woman's shocked expression. "I'm sorry but please do understand. It clearly isn't Hades' doing. A group of his sons are behind this without his consent. He, like you, is currently in a desperate state since all his other remaining sons and daughters are in grave danger."

"But why won't the gods intervene?"

Mr. Jones shook his head. "I have said enough, I'm afraid. I've told you everything you need to know at the moment. It's time for me to leave."

The woman nodded slowly, brushing her face off her tears she then pulled something out of her pocket, two small brown envelopes. "I understand. Please give this to them. I can't seem to reach them by Iris Messaging for a month now."

Mr. Jones smiled kindly. "That's why I personally came all the way here to visit you. As for this, I'll make sure they are received by their respective owners. I shall be going now."

"Are you sure you won't stop by for some tea or coffee?" The woman offered. "It's the least I could do."

"Some other time I'm afraid." He declined. "I have a couple more households to visit. Farewell, madam."

And with that, he turned around and wheeled himself back to the car where Argus was waiting. Mrs. Craven went back to her house. He was about to get inside the car when he and Argus heard a growl, a deep feral growl. Both men tensed. Argus stayed close to Mr. Jones protectively. Another growl was heard; a little closer this time. Somewhere to there left, across the dry marble fountain and through the tall dark various shaped hedges.

In the next second, a large brown wolf burst from one of the hedges and with one leap, sailed over the fountain and the car, before landing a few meters in front of the two men. Argus stepped forward. He made a three fingered claw symbol on one hand and placed the tips of his fingers on his forehead. Eyes suddenly popped out of his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, his neck and his hands. He began increasing in size, his suit popping out in different areas.

"Argus, enough!" Mr. Jones ordered and Argus returned to his former self, giving Mr. Jones a confused glance. "She is not the enemy. Anymore"

"How sweet for you to recognize me Mr. Jones or should I say Chiron? You love playing with names and identities; you are making a fool out of yourself." The she-wolf replied without a hint of humour. She doesn't actually speak, more like she communicates through body language which is magically understood by anyone she prefers. "I see you can control your pet better this time. I wouldn't want to gouge out a few more eyes."

Argus took a step back, obviously remembering their previous encounter. Mr. Jones wheeled himself a little forward. "Lupa, we need not to speak of the things of the past. We have things of greater importance to be discussed."

"Let's get to business then." Lupa replied. "You have sent your first group to London I see. I advice you to bring them back. Your flimsy warriors would only get in the way."

"And leave the suppressive operations to you? Over my dead body! I've seen what you're group has done to Alfred son of Hades back in Arizona."

Lupa's lips seem to twitch to a smile. "Ah, yes. Thirteen years of age. Young. Inexperienced. Weak for a son of Pluto. He doesn't deserve to live."

"They are still demigods! Not some beast you can simply hunt down and kill mercilessly!" Chiron burst out. "Not all sons of Hades support the war, most of them barely know anything at all! And yet they were slaughtered innocently, not even knowing the reason why…"

Lupa stared at him intently, her eyes reflecting the moonlight making them glow. "Jupiter first ordered that all sons and daughters of Pluto to be taken into custody or taken down whatever means necessary. They have waged war on the mortal world so that the gods may not intervene. Whatever else they are planning, we are to stop them at all costs, even if it means killing those that are innocent. It is more ideal than letting them live and be taken in by them."

"I know the order! That's why my camp is taking in Hades' children. I only have two at the moment but my satyrs will assure you that they will gather the remaining ones, especially those here in the United States. We do not need to kill them. There is no honour in killing the innocent. You bring disgrace to your camp."

Lupa shook her head. "What if I were to say that we have no choice?"

Chiron's face paled. "What do you mean by that?"

Lupa looked up at the moon, as if taking in its light. "I came to bring the news to you personally since Iris has been temporarily been put out of commission. The council was enraged about the recent events. Apollo, Venus, Ceres and Mercury disapproved but they were outvoted."

"What news?" Chiron asked; his voice strained. "What have they decided upon?"

"The council has decided for the total elimination of all children of Pluto. Pluto is in a desperate situation now, trying to hide the rest of his children but it's a futile attempt. Four-fifths of my Legion has already been deployed in France, Norway, Italy and Germany mainly. We will get to them before he does, especially since I am leading the hunt. Jupiter made a special mention of you, Chiron. You are to surrender the two children to Olympus in three days time. You and you camp have also been ordered, as much to my disgust, to participate in the hunting operations provided that your camp and mine will work separately. Olympus has declared this day as the beginning of the first phase of The Annihilation."

Chiron was speechless. He couldn't believe what had just taken place. Poor children, he thought, poor children. When he finally spoke, his voice was shaky. "I-I will make the arrangements. Anything else before I leave?"

"One more thing, it's useless for your fawns to search this country. Pluto has warned them that all gates to the Underworld here in this country has been sealed off and guarded. They are all heading to Germany and its neighbouring countries were Pluto opened up a series of make-shift gateways out of his desperation to save them. I have to be honest, Chiron. I too do not wish to kill Pluto's offsprings. They are mighty fine warriors and prove to be uniquely powerful than the children of Jupiter and Neptune provided that they are trained well. It is truly a waste. That I have to admit."

Chiron's face was pale. Lupa went back on staring at the moon. After a few minutes of silence Chiron sighed. "Thank you for the information, Lupa. I shall be leaving now."

Lupa nodded. "Chiron, the last of Pluto's remaining sons here in the United States is leaving Boston Harbour by noon tomorrow. He has three friends with him, one of them is a half-blood as well. I decided to leave this one to you. I want to see what you would do. Farewell."

Lupa bounded out towards the hedges and leaped over the stone walls. Despite her size, she did it all with such stealth it looked like her paws never touched the ground. And just like that, Chiron and Argus were alone.

Chiron was still deep thought. A few minutes later, he turned and went towards the car. "Come Argus, I'm afraid I have to postpone the visits. We need to get back to camp. Fast."

**(A/N:** So yeah… No action there, just some talk and blah blah blah… I just felt like I need to add this part. Anyways, this is still a preview so don't expect regular updates until the next book comes out. Once again, read on and don't forget to tell me what you think! Iron Raven out…**)**


	3. III

**(A/N: **Another "filler" chapter as you might say. Since I won't be able to get my hands on the Son of Neptune for another month or so, I simply can't continue the main plot as much as I wanted to but I found this to be the perfect time to add some history to our main character's background who was yet to be named. Anyways, so yeah, filler chapter here we come.**)**

**Chapter Three: The Meeting**

Cera examined me further, quickly running her hands on my arms, legs and on my sides checking for any broken bone, routinely checking my pulse. She seemed to be so good at this, like she's some kind of nurse. She asked me my name, I tried to answer but I croaked instead and a sharp pain filled my throat making me wince and cough. She then decided that I should save the talking for later.

Cera and Ashton grabbed me by the shoulders and helped me up. I tried to stand but my knees buckled. They caught me and slung my arms on their shoulders. The other guy named Ryan just silently kept his distance. I couldn't make out anything of him but his dark blurry figure, and so was everything else; a blur, as if I was looking through a car window with a huge storm blowing on the other side spraying water on the glass. My hearing wasn't any good either, like the time when I almost drowned and a lot of water entered my earlobes.

"I don't think it would be safe to shadow travel along with him." Ashton said from my left. He was a quite a large guy, probably a few inches taller with a strong build. Cera on the other hand, was quite average in height about the same as mine, her long hair felt cold and she was struggling a little from her burden, which was generally me.

"This might take a while, what about them?" Cera replied with a small grunt while carrying my weight. They were taking me somewhere but I don't know what or where.

"I think dad would be much more concerned of us finding a lost brother than those guys." Ashton replied. "Ryan, go to Rowena, tell her to call everyone off and tell dad that we're meeting him in a few minutes. The guy named Ryan nodded and then simply vanished into thin air.

"Should I call the ride?" Cera asked. I felt Ashton's head nod. She then took out something from her side pocket, a small flash of silver in her hand. She then put it in her mouth. I first thought she was going to smoke but instead she blew and I knew what it was; a whistle. What puzzled me next was there was no sound but I remembered a certain kind of whistle that does just that; a dog whistle.

After blowing for about three seconds, she held out the whistle a little farther from her face and it shattered. At first nothing seemed to be happening but suddenly, my vision turned black, or more like covered in black. A big black furry creature without any warning had suddenly materialized in front of us. I'm guessing that it's a dog, judging from its quick pants and the smell.

They carried me near it and strangely, I didn't feel afraid, as if all of this is second nature. The large dog bent forward and they put me on top of its neck. The other two climbed aboard and made sure I was secured. Ashton bent over the dog's ear and spoke. "Alright Nightmare, old boy, take us to dad's palace. No shadow travel and be gentle, no leaping and chasing other hellhounds or no more vanilla cupcakes for dinner."

The hellhound whined but then let out an excited "_woof!"_ before starting to trot towards our destination.

Cera let out an exasperated sigh. "Ashton, I should have called Silver, you know how I hate it when your hellhound trots!" She then bent forward to me and held something by my nose. I sniffed at it involuntarily and I immediately felt light-headed and sleepy. She whispered. "Here, it's HypnoDust, it will help you get over the bumpy ride. We'll be there by the time you're awake." I nodded and everything spiralled into blackness as I fell into a deep sleep.

I dreamt that I was cramped in some dark and musky place. The sound of the old truck engine and the voice of a man singing in German made me remember. This happened while I was back in Boston where we were going to escape to my homeland.

Someone's head with short spiky hair leaned on my shoulder. It could only be Fritz who has been feeling sick from the start of the trip. Across from me was a boy a year older than me; Schneider. His calm and collected face was barely seen from the slight crack of the wooden crate where we were hiding. Etta was cramped beside him with her hands gripping his sleeve nervously.

"This plan should better work. My squad mates are hot on our trail. With Lupa leading them and the hunters on their side; we don't have much time before they find us." Schneider whispered.

"We don't have a better plan. Let's just hope we get there. Once we're in the ship it's easier to hide." I replied in a whisper as well.

Schneider sighed and laid his head back. He's still probably thinking about everything that had just happened. We first met him back in our home in South Dakota. He was also a half-blood which I still find hard to believe that I was also one. Being a son of Mercury, he and his squad were the first to arrive and raid our house. My mother, with a little help from me, took them down and captured him. He admitted that I was their target and I had to die for a reason even he doesn't know. Up to now, I still don't know why.

He also admitted that he was sick of being in the legion. Ever since that order was given, they have been forced to kill innocent people and even torture them for information about the sons and daughters of Pluto. That's one of the reasons why he came along with us. Another was because it was his squad's doing that Etta and Fritz's parents were dead and he promised that he will protect them until we reached Munich, our hometown.

The truck pulled up to a stop. We heard some voices asking for Mr. Friedrich's license and asked if they could search the truck. We suddenly heard a smack; the voices became agitated but after a few more smacking sounds, everything was silent. We then heard the sound of something heavy being dragged away and the truck started moving again.

The next time the truck stopped, my mother quickly pulled out the sheet covering the crate and lifted up the lid. The noontime sun stung our eyes but we hurriedly got out, my body felt sore from the long time spent cramped in that crate. We were at the loading deck of Boston Harbour. Tall stacks of large steel containers were everywhere, ready to be loaded into a ship called _Emerald_. Mr. Friedrich was busy prying open a metal container door with a crowbar while my mother disappeared to check on the perimeter. After much effort, he managed to pry it open. We stepped inside; there were large crates inside labelled _canned rations _and barrels labelled _purified water_. Mr. Friedrich was one clever man.

My mother suddenly leapt over one of the steel containers, her bow was drawn. Mr. Friedrich sealed the container and went to operate the crane. My mother knelt in front of the hole the crowbar made. She told me she was sorry she couldn't come with us. She has to confront her sisters once and for all. We were both crying when we said our goodbyes. The container was then slowly lifted and transferred to the ship. I watched my mother through the hole.

The first I saw was Mr. Friedrich's body free-falling from the top of the crane, his body had several arrows sticking from it. My mother, with her hair tied back and her bow drawn was standing in front of about a dozen girls in silver clothing armed with bows similar to what my mother used. I also noticed a large brown wolf lounged on top of one of the containers looking down to them as if they were some sort of entertainment; behind her were about twenty warriors standing by. I wanted to shout at her but that would only worsen the situation.

A loud horn sounded followed by the clinking sounds of the anchor being lifted up. The ship gently waded offshore. My mother got into an argument with a teenage girl. From this distance, I can barely make-up anything about her but she looked taller than the others with a circlet on her forehead. She aimed her bow at my mother who did the same.

They released at the same time but both of their shots missed and the whole place erupted in chaos as my mother made her last stand at Boston Harbour.

Schneider pulled me back and said. "Markus, there's nothing we can do for her now."

I said nothing and just stared at the metal floor, slightly swaying as the ship gently rocked back and forth.

"Markus, can you hear me. Markus!" Schneider kept calling.

"**MARKUS!" **A different voice rang in my head bringing me awake.

The voice sounded familiar. It can't be. I slowly opened my eyes. A tall figure clothed in dark robes was looming over me; Pluto, lord of the dead. He bent down and stroked my hair. His face hadn't changed after all these years. How many years has it been anyway?

"F…Fa…ther…" I managed to croak.

"I'm here my son, finally here." He said in a sad voice.

I took in a deep breath, which was painful, as if I was inhaling small particles of broken glass. The room was dim; a faint bluish light was coming from the open doors of the balcony; a chilling wind occasionally blowing inside the room. After a few moments of silence, I finally said what I've been dying to ask him for a long time. "Why?"

**(A/N:** What will Pluto say? Will he tell the truth? If he did what would Markus feel? And why am I asking you all this questions? Never mind. Find out on the next chapter. Don't forget to review! Iron Raven out...**)**


	4. IV

**(A/N:** Just read the preview of the Son of Neptune, can't wait for it to come out! Anyways, chapter four, here we go…**)**

**Chapter Four: Lost in Time**

"Why?"

Pluto let out a deep sigh. He raised his hand and silver vines with small transparent glass leaves sprouted from the floor beside my bed. The vines rose up to about seven feet before intertwining themselves and formed some sort of chair. Pluto sat down, his eyes never leaving mine. He was about to say something but he paused; as if he wasn't sure of what to say.

I repeated the question. "Why?"

He knew what I was asking. Why was I hunted back then? Why would those people kill the innocent and even my friends and family just to get to me? And, after all that happened, why am I still alive?

Pluto rubbed his temples and finally spoke. "Because you were my son."

"I know but what does that have to do with anything?" My voice was raspy. My throat felt like it was burning up with every word.

"It has something to do with everything!" Pluto raised his voice as he recalled. "A long time ago, three of your brothers plotted to rise up against Olympus. To keep the gods from interfering, they turned to the mortal world, propagated their ideals and rose to power. Once leader of their respective countries, they waged war on both worlds. This war has been known to mortals as World War Two."

"But I didn't have anything to do with this. They were my brothers, not me!" I coughed making my mouth taste strangely sour.

"Aside from their massive mortal army, they have amassed a large army of monsters and some demigods as well." He continued. "They began wreaking havoc and widespread destruction in almost all parts of the globe. My brother Jupiter was enraged along with most of the Olympians. They've decided that all my children should be wiped off the face of the world regardless of their involvement along with all their kin and acquaintances. This has been known as the beginning of The Annihilation."

Pluto remained silent for a few seconds but his expression was hard and his face was bitter. His hands were gripping the sides of his robes turning his pale knuckles even paler if that's possible. When he continued his voice shook. "They- they killed them! Your siblings. Most of them were never even claimed! A few have been trained but were abandoned by their homes once they realized who they were but even so, they were hunted down all the same. The most bitter part of it is all I can do is watch as my children were slaughtered one by one!"

Pluto was shaking with rage but he soon calmed down and went back to his melancholy state. It was horrible thought. Back then I had no idea the situation was that dire and now I was deep in thought as well. Thinking of all those who died because they have been involved. And I felt deep sadness over those who were innocent like me but were killed anyway. Wait a minute…

"You said a long time ago," I sat up. My vision swirled and my chest tightened making me cough roughly again. "How- how long exactly?"

"You have been embedded inside the ice for about seven decades."

My jaw dropped. "Seven…decades?"

"I had been blind. I should have sensed your presence all these time but the Stygian Ice might have hindered my abilities. The powers of the Styx work in mysterious ways."

It was downright shocking. I slept for almost seven decades? I felt lost, confused and somehow angry at someone or something. I wasn't sure what or who. Pluto was staring at me, almost sympathetically; he probably knows how I'm dealing with my present situation.

"You need not to worry. Those times were long over." He said reassuringly; placing a hand on my shoulder. "They are now more considerate and I know it would be hard for you to adapt but your siblings will surely be of help. For now, all you can do is recover, adapt and train. These are all necessary for your survival. Being a demigod of your kind is no game. You will face unique dangers unknown to other demigods. You will also learn how to utilize your unique weapons and unlock your own abilities which only a child of mine can possess."

He looked at me with a proud face. I can't help but smile slightly though I'm beginning to feel feverish. My mind still raced with a million questions though. Just then, something large swooped down from outside the balcony and landed on the metal railing. My skin crawled when I saw the creature perched on the metal bars; a large ugly old hag with huge wings and loose leathery skin. She gave me a sly smile, showing her sharp yellowish teeth; as if she's wondering what I would taste like.

Pluto stood up sharply and faced the creature. "Tisiphone, you better have a good reason for this rude interruption!"

The creature bowed. "I'm sorry my lord but Perseus Jackson is requesti- I mean demanding your counsel."

"That old seaweed's brat thinks he can order me around just because he saved Olympus!" Pluto sighed. "Very well, if he has come all the way here, his intrusion might be of some importance."

He snapped his fingers and the silver vine chair exploded into silver dust and was no more. He turned to me. "I'm sorry Markus but I'm afraid our meeting would be cut short. We won't be meeting again for sometime."

"Wait! I still have a lot of questions to ask."

"There is time for that but not right now. You look ill. I've already sent for your sister to treat you and help you recover."

I looked down. There's no point in arguing but I still have a ton of questions to ask and I decided to ask one final question before he leaves. "Father, I just wanted to know, how did I get here in the Underworld?"

"You shadow travelled. Back when you were falling by the cliff, you wished that you were safe here in the Underworld. In your desperation, you manage to unlock your shadow travelling abilities which I never recommended to my other children when they were escaping since it has a high risk that they may not reach the destination they wanted since it takes a lot of energy especially for a beginner. You managed to unlock that ability on your own and you ended at the Styx with your life force completely drained, or so I thought."

"But why am I still alive?"

"The Styx has mysterious powers even I haven't unravelled in all these millenia but my simplest guess is that back in the time I laid you on the river, your soul hasn't completely left your mortal body and the Styx has somehow mended them back together. You were then preserved in ice up until before your sister found you. I will be leaving now."

Tisiphone took off with her large wings, propelling her out of sight. Pluto was about to disappear as well but he stopped. "And Markus, I'm still not sure if you're presence here is for the good or the bad. It is up to Olympus to decide on your fate but no need to worry my son. They have changed these past few years…mostly."

And with that he disappeared in a blur of liquid-like shadow that dissipated a few seconds later and I was alone in this dimly lit room. It wasn't really silent. Far away, I could still hear the distant cries and wails of agony of the souls being tortured just like how my mother told me when I was little; before I knew I was a demigod. She always told me stories about the Underworld; which left me unable to sleep that night. I always wondered why she would tell me those kinds of stories at bedtime but now I know. She was passively supplying me information about this place so I would at least know something if ever I got the chance of being here.

There was a knock on the door and it opened a few moments later. It was Cera or at least I think she is. Now that my vision is clear I can now make out her features. Her face reminded me of one of those girls in a Spanish magazine my uncle used to read. She was average in height with long ink-black hair that went in contrast with her pale skin similar to mine. She was wearing a tight sleeveless shirt which I later learned was called a tank top along with dark coloured jeans. A small red bag was hanging from her shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" She said with a slight smile.

"Fine, I guess." I coughed again and I covered my mouth. The sour taste was strong now and when I held out my hand, it was tinged with red; blood. "or maybe not…"

She rolled her eyes. "I told dad that you needed medical attention first but nooooo… Never mind that, you might be suffering pneumonia or something. It doesn't matter though, all you need is this."

She unzipped the bag and pulled out a small plastic bag with cube-like things but I'm certain that they're food. She also took out a juice box, gold in colour with an omega symbol in front, popped in a straw and handed it both to me. "Ambrosia and nectar. Well? What are you waiting for? Dig in…"

She watched as I took a small bite of the cube thing thinking it might be some sort of cake or biscuit. To my surprise it tasted nothing like those. It tasted like spaghetti! The homemade spaghetti my mother used to cook with mushrooms and olives. A wave of nostalgia hit me and it intensified when I took a sip of the nectar which tasted like the fresh warm milk Mr. Friedrich used to give me when he came back from working at the pasture every morning a long time ago. I realized I was becoming teary eyed and I turned away from her.

"No need to be ashamed." Cera said, she seem to understand. "A taste of home huh? I remembered my first time. It's alright to cry, Ashton did too back then and so did I."

I wiped my eyes. I also realized that I felt a whole lot better. It probably happened while I was eating but the nostalgic feeling was so strong I didn't noticed. I smiled thankfully and she smiled back. "No need to thank me. So... are you going to lie down there all day or shall I introduce you to everyone? Well not everyone since some of us were sent out again."

I figured that there's no point lying here when I feel all better so I agreed. I put on a brown shirt and slipped on some strangely designed shoes, which I later learned was called sneakers, she gave me and we talked while I was dressing up. We introduced ourselves. She was sixteen, from Portugal but she was living here in the United States when Ashton before brought her here. She grew up with her father who unfortunately died because of a Cyclops attack. Her face went bitter for a second but she dismissed the thought and led me to the hallway. That's where we met a boy about ten or eleven. He had messy black hair and looked really tired.

"Markus, this is Ryan." Cera said placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy was looking at me like I'm some sort of stranger, which I really am. "He is eleven and mute. Don't ask why."

Ryan looked at Cera thankfully. She smiled and tapped his cheek. "It's been a long day huh? Why don't you go to sleep?"

Ryan nodded and ran off. Cera turned to me. "C'mon, let's go to the game room."

Cera led me further. I looked around curiously. The hallway was painted white with floor to ceiling windows where you can have a glimpse of the Fields of Aspodel. There wasn't much decoration, no paintings or expensive vases and such, just a long hallway with hazel brown carpet and crystal chandeliers, something I thought would never exist in the Underworld. I was expecting large grey stone castles with dungeons and torches that glow with green or blue flames. It was also silent except for the sound of our muffled footsteps.

"Being children of Pluto, we tried to live normally as possible but dad has a different meaning of normal. So he built a mansion on the outskirts of the Fields of Aspodel just for us. It has everything you need and possibly want. I'll show you around. First we head to the game room which you boys will find as the most interesting room in the house."

After several twist and turns we found ourselves in front of large double doors about nine feet high. There were two skeletal soldiers guarding both sides in full Roman armour. Cera pushed the doors aside, strange loud music filled my ears and it revealed a large room filled with strange things I've never seen before.

There was a teenage boy in front of some sort of glass screen with a strange white gadget attached to his arm and he was swinging it wildly. There was some sort of cartoon character holding a tennis racket in the screen imitating his every swing. Cera walked over to him. "We have a new guy!" She shouted in the midst of the entire racket. The teenager took out a small rectangular device and clicked something and the music, or so I think it was, was suddenly gone.

The teenager studied me. He had curly black hair and pale skin and a few inches taller than me. I walked over to them. "Hey man! What's up? Name's Patrick but you can call me Rick since Pat sounds like a girl's name."

I looked up to see what's up but there was nothing but the ceiling. When I looked back at them they were frowning at me.

"Very funny, man." Rick said. "What's your name?"

"Markus." I replied, glancing curiously on all the couches, the littered food wrappers, the strange machines and glass screens. "What are all these?"

"I know you can't believe it. Awesome stuff huh!" He raised his arms on his sides as if beholding the glory of the place. "This…is what every guy could ever wish for! Our sanctuary!"

"That's why you're gonna be single for life…" Cera muttered.

"Whoa there little sis!" Rick turned to her. "And that came from a girl who never went out with anybody before."

Cera crossed her arms on her chest. I could tell that these two argue a lot. "Oh, I so did!"

Rick raised his brow and said mockingly. "With who? With my "oh so hot brother" Ashton?"

"Ugh!" Cera glared at him. "I'm so gonna get you later."

"What's it gonna be this time?" Rick stepped closer, not afraid. "Name your challenge!"

"Modern Warfare…" Cera replied, not taking her glare off him.

Rick smiled slyly. "Girl, you're so gonna be sorry. You're playing on my world now!"

"I just wanna see how you would look like when I beat you on your own game! Come on Mark!"

She dragged me outside and Rick just muttered "Whatever" and the loud music was turned on again. By now, I was really confused; I didn't have any idea of what they were talking about and there were so many strange things I've never even seen or heard of!

We passed by a skeleton dressed like a French maid who was carrying a tray of sandwiches. The hallway is pretty much the same. Cera opened a lot of doors and told me what rooms they are. She showed me the wash room, bowling alley, shooting range, the gymnasium, the movie theatre and the infirmary all inside the mansion. The places were empty if you don't count the skeletal nurses, guards, maids and janitors. She also showed me their respective rooms.

We the arrived at the 'snack bar'. The room was spacious with a lot of chairs and tables with the same floor to ceiling windows showing the view of the Fields of Aspodel. The long counter was filled with all kinds of food you can ever imagine. Some of them were unfamiliar but I recognized some, especially the spaghetti! We decided to rest for a while and grab something to eat. Another teenage girl was there, this time a blonde, with the same pale skin, but she was wearing dark eyeliner and dark clothes. She looked really downcast.

"Hey, Liz, you okay? New guy here." Cera asked with concern. The girl simply nodded and walked away without even looking at me. Cera sighed. "That's Elizabeth, she's been really down since her boyfriend dumped her after knowing who she was but she'll be fine. Don't worry. Anyways, let's eat."

I took my favourite meal along with some garlic bread and cold orange juice. Cera got some vegetable salad and some crackers. We chatted a little while we were eating. "How does it feel like? To be trapped in their and all?"

I told her everything that happened to me while I was trapped in the ice which wasn't that much but I can't bring myself to talk about what happened before that.

"It's alright. I don't like to talk about my past either." She took a napkin and wiped her mouth. "Let's go meet the others."

We made our way outside the mansion. I stared at the open field in front of me. Long dark brown grass grew in patches on the dry dark earth. Tall grey stone walls surrounded the vast field with skeletal guards patrolling the whole perimeter. A few meters in front of us were some sort of small worn out stone arena about eighty feet long. I looked up and all I saw was the dull grey stone cave ceiling of the Underworld with large stalactites the size of buildings were sticking out partly covered with green mist.

"Sure wish it was the sky huh?" Cera said glancing up as well. "Let's go to the arena."

We stepped inside the arena. Even from far away, I could already hear the sounds of metal clanging and people shouting. It was a miniature Roman Coliseum. We sat on the front row on the stands and watched the three people fighting.

The first one I noticed was the guy in the middle. He was tall, quite good-looking with a muscular build and slightly long dark brown hair. He was probably eighteen or nineteen. His expression wasn't fierce but calm as he fended off his two attackers with his twin swords with not much effort.

The other two was a boy and a girl. The boy was about my age with jet black hair and wearing a large black jacket a few sizes too big. The other was a girl about ten with the same dark brown hair but curly. Both were wielding swords and were doing their best to break the older guy's defence.

"Amazing isn't he?" Cera was smiling as she watched the brown haired boy disarm the girl with one swift move of his twin blades, using them like scissors to lock the girl's sword before giving it a slight twist and making her drop the weapon. The boy behind him took his chance and made a swing of his sword aiming at the older guy's head who simply ducked and kicked him back in the stomach making him hit the dirt. The girl walked away obviously disappointed but noticed us and teleported herself between us. I later learned that 'shadow travel' was the right term.

"Hi Cera!" The girl greeted her. "Who is he? "

"Our new brother." Cera ruffled the girl's hair. "Markus, this is Kimberly. She's nine. Kim this is Markus."

"Hi Mark!" Kim greeted.

"Hello. Who are those two?"

Cera explained simply. "Well, the one who's always hitting the dirt is Michael, he was the former new guy since you came in, and the one who's winning is Ashton, Kim's older brother."

"I thought you were all siblings?" I asked, puzzled.

"We." Cera corrected. "Not 'you'."

"Oh, right." I said, still not familiar about the whole thing of having siblings.

"Well, technically, Kim and Ashton are both siblings from their mortal and godly parent so the two of them are really genetically related."

"Is that why you love my older brother?" Kim cut in. "Because he isn't really your brother and you go all red and stare at him when he's not looking?"

Cera's eyes grew wide and her face burned. "What! Of course not! I love him as a brother too. Just a brother and nothing else."

"Everything okay in here?" We heard a slightly deep voice and Ashton and Michael materialized in front of us. They seem to be finished training.

"We were just talking about how Cera lo-" Kim was about to say more but Cera cut in.

"How I begin to notice how good Michael is getting!" She said with her face all red.

"Don't be sarcastic. I know I suck." The guy named Michael rolled his eyes, slightly panting. His face and hair was all smeared with dirt.

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Ashton told him. "It's just your second week."

"Whatever. Who's this guy?"

"I'm Markus but you can call me Mark." I replied beginning to like my nickname.

"Name's Ashton Silverbay. This is Michael and you've probably met my sister Kim. Must've been pretty tough being stuck in all that ice."

"In all the what?" Michael asked obviously puzzled.

"Long story." Cera and Ashton both said.

"Whatever. I'm going to the snack bar. Kim, you coming? They got those root beer flavored cotton candies now."

"Sure!" Kim said excitedly and they both disappeared.

"Well, since we're here." Cera began. "What if you teach Mark the basics? I'll watch from here."

"Good idea." Ashton smiled. "C'mon Mark!"

He touched my shoulder and everything went dark for a second. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of the arena. Cera was still by the stands watching carefully.

"Don't worry. I shadow travelled you here. You'll learn how to do that as well. Soon." He walked over to the stacks of weapons on the long wooden rack by the wall. "Choose your weapon. Whatever you think you are comfortable with. It's only made of mortal steel though. We don't use Stygian Iron in practice."

I walked over to the weapon rack wondering what Stygian Iron is. He picked up his twin blades. I spent full three minutes choosing a weapon. There were swords of all sizes, daggers, shields of all shapes, bows, crossbows, axes, maces, warhammers, scissors, bread knife, can opener, and even scythes. I decided to take the two-foot sword since its light and have considerable reach.

"No one's ever picked that but it's your choice." Ashton shrugged. "You ready?"

I nodded and charged. I've had training before. Back then, my mother, being a skilled fighter with me not really knowing how or why, trained me a lot ever since I reached the age of twelve.

Ashton lunged. My senses opened. I skidded to a halt, parried away his blade and spun. I was aiming for his stomach but he quickly deflected it with his other blade and stepped back. I charged again, he slashed downwards and I leaped and gave him a kick but he blocked it with his arm while mid-air. He rammed the blunt reversed edge of his blades to my chest and I tumbled down to the dirt. I flipped up and prepared to attack again.

"Wow. Not a beginner are you?" He said, mildly impressed. "Alright then…"

It was his turn to attack now. He came at me with a series of slashes that left me too busy deflecting his attacks and not able to make my own move. He was a deadly hurricane, spinning with such speed, grace and finesse, his blades coming in contact with mine every half-second. He wasn't trying to attack at all but just testing my defense. I got a feeling that if really wanted to attack, I would be sliced to pieces now. I was being pushed back. I don't think I can keep up any longer.

An idea then struck me. I fell my knee and swept his legs. He fell down but flipped up in a second and continued to slash at me as if nothing happened.

"Nice try." Ashton said smiling.

My senses were working overtime. Time slowed down. I took in every detail around me. The swirling dust on Ashton's feet. His brown eyes fixed on mine, studying my every move through my eyes; his blades moving in a coordinated and liquid-like motion. I also noticed the increased amount of audience by the stands.

It took me some time but I figured the rhythm of his attacks and I made my move. As the blade was coming down to my neck, I grabbed his wrist, deflected the other one with my sword and rammed my knee to his stomach. Just before impact, he raised his knee in return and slammed into mine painfully. We both grunted from the pain. He dropped one of his swords and grabbed me by the arm and threw me to the ground. It all happened in less than three seconds. I found myself lying on my back breathing heavily with his blades on a scissors-like formation around my neck.

He sheathed his swords and offered me his hand. I took it. There was a small cheer form the audiences. I noticed Cera was with Michael, Kim, Liz and Rick by the stands with snacks. Michael was handed over something to Rick. They all came to watch... and bet.

"Not bad. Not bad." Ashton said. "I haven't been this worked out for a long time in a practice session."

"You too. If you were there that time, you could've taken out an entire German battalion with just those swords." I replied with a silly grin on my face.

"What time? And what's with the German battalion thing?" Ashton asked, confused. "Wait a minute, what's the year you remember before you were trapped in the ice?"

"Uhhh…" I didn't see why this is so important. "1939?"

**(A/N: **Well this is longer than I thought. I know, it's a little incest but I kept thinking since back in one of the PJ books, (don't know which one, the first I think) the gods doesn't have DNA which means, I don't really see any genetic relationship between demigods of the same parent unless they both have the same mortal one. Let me know what you think about that. If it offends you or something, sorry. : \ Anyways, I removed a lot of stuff from this. Mainly, the details of the mansion since it made it a whole lot boring and longer. I'll try to update soon and don't forget to review. Iron Raven out…**)**


	5. V

**(A/N: **So far, this story is getting somewhere. I don't know. I'm just running blind, typing all the ideas streaming from my head and before I know it, tada! New chapter. So much for that, I've been thinking of naming the other children of Pluto's weapons and what types of weapons they are. Mark's weapon is already covered though. If any of you have any ideas or stuff, just include it in your review. Always include these three categories: Name of weapon, Owner and Type and you're good to go. You're also free to add some minor details or some history/background behind that weapon. (Note: Must be made of Stygian Iron.) (Another Note: It's only a suggestion so please don't complain, sue, or hunt me down if yours doesn't get picked. I'm only going to use it to fill in the holes in my ideas and I'm not requiring you to submit one in the first place.) Anyways, chapter five, here we go…**)**

(Hopefully the Last Note: Ryan is mute. So that means he uses sign language so sentences that are between ''' (ie: ''' Hello ''') is translated from sign language. I won't repeat this again in every chapter he does it.)

**Chapter Five: When Families Decide**

They all shadow travelled and materialized around the two of us making a small crowd. My knee was throbbing like crazy. It shouldn't hurt this bad! Cera gave me an impressed look before going over to Ashton who mouthed me the words '_Talk to you later'._ Rick came over and patted my shoulder. He had a wide grin plastered on his face. "Thanks man! You just won me fifty-bucks! I knew you wouldn't last more than thirty seconds. Only Cera, Liz and Brandon could last for more than a minute with that guy."

"You welcome, I guess…" He gave me another pat on the shoulder and went back to bugging Michael by waving the money in front of his face like a fan. Michael countered by saying that he only lost by a mere two seconds but Rick ignored him and continued the gesture.

"Not bad." A girl behind me murmured. I turned to my left and I was face-to-face with Liz. Her hazel eyes were dull and her cheeks were slightly wet as if she was crying.

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your-"

"No need." She cut in, shaking her head. Her voice was shallow. "I came here to talk to you about what just happened."

"You mean the part where I got thrown like a sack of potatoes?"

She shook her head again. "You're fighting style. The way you executed that slash and the way you parry his sword, even your stance."

"What about it?" I frowned; beginning to get curious.

"A year ago, the Huntresses of Diana tried to recruit me by showing off their fighting skills back at this camp. I didn't join because I, being a total idiot, was already going out with _him_." Her voice tightened when she mentioned the word 'him' but she continued. "Anyway, I was able to study their fighting styles and I couldn't help but notice."

"Notice what?"

She brushed aside the stray hair on her face and said in a matter-of-factly before turning around and shadow travelling away. "You fight like them."

Her words kept repeating in my mind a few minutes after she left. I fight like them? I knew the Huntresses of Diana from my mother's stories when I was young. They were maidens who hunted along with Diana, the goddess of the hunt, and accompanied her through her quests and things like that. But what's with me fighting like them? The only one that has ever trained me was my mother. A sharp pain exploded inside my head; sharp, piercing pain. I winced and rubbed my temples and it was gone all of a sudden but something stayed; a thought. Is my mother somehow connected with them?

"Hey, everything alright?" It was Cera frowning at me as she came over.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired." I lied. I rubbed my aching knee. The pain doesn't seem to lessen.

"Well, you can sleep later. It's almost dinner time. Way to go by the way. You surprised us all."

"Alright guys! Everyone wash up and meet me at the dining hall in five minutes. Dinner time." Ashton declared. Everyone nodded and began shadow-travelling one by one.

"I'm going to wake Ryan up." Cera told him before she left as well. Ashton stayed behind along with me since I can't do that yet.

Once we're alone, Ashton spoke up, obviously in great disbelief. "1939? You mean you've been stuck there since World War II?"

"Pretty much." I scratched my head; still partly unable to believe it myself.

"You've just made Cera's job way more complicated." He replied; shaking his head slightly. "Dad personally gave her the job of _introducing_ you to the world. I didn't know he was being that literal."

"How hard can it be?" I asked but I suddenly felt stupid. I just saw the game room and I have no idea what those things are and I somehow know that those things are pretty common on this time. I'm pretty sure there are tons of other things of this time that I didn't know. "Pretty hard. I guess…"

"Let's take a walk. You might get lost or something since you can't shadow travel yet." He said as we walked towards the mansion. My knee still hurt a lot and made me limp slightly. We were both silent until we got inside. He spoke. "I guess I should help her a little. Well for starters, welcome to the twenty-first century. Lots of stuff has changed since your time. We got video games, the internet, sports cars, global warming, jets, 3D movies, and stuff like that."

He explained to me so many things; most of it was not making any sense but he was patient and explained to me in full detail that he made it sound interesting.

We finally made it to the dining hall which was different from the snack bar. It was a large room with a twenty-foot long table in the middle with a plain white table cloth. A three-tiered crystal chandelier hung by the ceiling; its golden glow pouring all over the room. The others were already waiting. They were all sitted on one end of the table. Ashton sat on the head chair. Kim and Cera sat on both his sides. I sat between Cera and Michael who whispered to me that I owe him fifty bucks for losing so fast. I protested. It wasn't my fault the guy was so good! But he just rolled his eyes and said "Whatever."

My knee still throbbed a little. I wonder why it would hurt so much. Ashton seemed to be fine and his own knee doesn't seem to bother him. After a few more minutes, the door opened and the skeletal maids and waiters placed the plates and served the food. Within minutes, the table was loaded with different kinds of food and we we're all digging in. I got some mashed potatoes, a bowl of spaghetti, a few slices of meat loaf and a croissant along with a glass of cold lemonade. While in the middle of our meal, Ryan and Kim smiled to each other. Then, Ryan touched the roasted turkey with his fingertips. The turkey sprang to life. It tried to stand but its feet were cut off so it kept on falling over. The two children laughed.

Cera also reached out and touched the stumbling turkey with her fingertips and it dropped back on the platter. "Stop playing with your food." She said sternly, like a mother. Ashton tried to hide a smile. The two children stopped laughing while the others just kept eating as if it was all natural.

Ryan made symbols with his hands. I remembered that he was mute. It's a good thing I know sign language. It says. ''' _I'm just practicing my animation ability.'''_

"Well, you have plenty of time to do that tomorrow." Cera replied between mouthfuls of grilled salmon. Ryan nodded. ''' Okay, I'm sorry.'''

Ashton cleared his throat. "Okay, everyone listen up. Just to make things formal. I would like all of you to welcome Markus; our new brother."

There was a murmur of approval. Everyone's eyes were on me and I felt a little conscious.

"And one more thing." Ashton continued. "We found him trapped on packs of Stygian Ice yesterday and he's been there since 1939 so…."

Everyone's eyes widened and stared at me even more. Rick spoke. "Dude… What was World War Two like in real life? Did you kill a German?"

I looked down. The scenes of how my friends and I fought for our survival back then flashed in my mind. I put down my knife and fork. I apparently lost my appetite. Cera gave Rick a venomous look.

"Sorry, just curious!" Rick raised his hands in surrender and went silent. Cera told him to be curious somewhere else.

Ashton cleared his throat again. "As I was saying, he belongs to another time but that doesn't mean he doesn't belong with us. So I came up with a plan. We will all take part in helping him adapt to this present time we live in. It's gonna be hard especially for him but he'll fit in eventually."

I felt grateful. "Are you sure about this? I mean, you're going through all the trouble just to help me adapt?"

Ashton smiled. "You are our brother. We're your family now and we've decided to help you as much as we can. Everyone agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright then, we start tomorrow. Cera, Liz and Michael, you guys are in charge of introducing him to our modern lifestyle. He's got a lot of catching up to do on history and stuff like that. Rick, Ryan and Kimmy, you three are in charge of entertainment, hobbies, recreation and the like."

"Alright!" Rick cheered. He suddenly spoke in a strange accent he probably picked up from somewhere. "You shall learn the ways of the master, my young padawan!"

"As for me…well, I'm in charge of combat training as usual." Ashton continued. "Along with Brandon, Darwin and Rowena once they come back. We shall help you unlock your powers and train your fighting skills. I guess that's all for now."

We all finished our food. Rick told us stories about his Valentine disaster last year and it made us laugh except for Liz who only gave a small smile occasionally. For me, it was one of the best meals ever. Not just because of the amazing food, but because I felt that I truly belonged; a family of my own.

***Meanwhile at the throne room of Olympus, the gods were holding a council…

Pluto materialized in the middle of the throne room. His face was grim as he studied the other Olympians one by one. They, like him were dressed in their formal attire. Jupiter cleared his throat and demanded everyone's attention. "Your timing is impeccable as always, brother."

Pluto remained silent as he sat on the simple stone stool in the middle of the throne room. The air was filled with tense silence.

After a few seconds, Jupiter continued. "We are all aware that both camps have learned of each other's existence and the respective exchange of leaders. In a short while, they will soon meet in the flesh; the children of Minerva and Athena, of Mercury and Hermes, of Hephaestus and Vulcan and so on and it's all because of Juno's doing." He glanced at Juno who remained silent and kept a straight face. "But that is acceptable and all the more inevitable. The threat posed by the giants has proven to be enough to unite both camps and to that, I am in favour; although there are two things that I am not in favour of."

Jupiter's eyes bored into Pluto who held his stone cold gaze. Neptune rose up from his seat. "As you may know, my son Perseus Jackson, the hero of the Titan War, has met an unexpected encounter with a group of your sons and daughters thereby putting his own life and that of his friends, including your son Nico, in peril. You know the agreement Pluto, only we Olympians in this council shall have any knowledge of the existence of the Black Legion and what they do. They are simply way too dangerous and powerful to be mingled with the other demigods."

"They are not to blame for this. This Perseus stumbled near their headquarters!" Pluto protested.

"That is not a valid excuse!" Jupiter countered. "You shall be more responsible for keeping them from being compromised. Mercury shall be tasked in fixing this mess you made. As for the other thing, Minerva?"

He glanced at the grey eyes goddess dressed in full battle gear. She nodded and began to report. "News has reached us of this son of yours whom your children found embedded inside Stygian Ice. Is this correct?"

Pluto nodded but remained silent.

Minerva continued. "And this boy, by the name of Markus Abendroth has been in that state since the year 1939? Correct?"

Once again Pluto nodded but didn't say a word.

Minerva nodded as well and delivered the verdict. "If that's the case, he has definitely seen and lived during The Annihilation and as we have all agreed, he is subject to be terminated to avoid the leakage of any happenings of those past events."

"That I cannot allow!" Pluto burst out and rose from his seat and his body began to emit dark energy. "I will not allow this to happen again!"

"As we have all agreed, you shall comply!" Jupiter rose from his seat as well and the master bolt flew to his hand and electricity crackled around its shaft while hundreds of bolts of lightning flashed all around Olympus. "Don't you dare resist, brother! You know what has to be done!"

"Let us not be hasty Lord Jupiter." Minerva intervened. The two gods powered down and sat back. The whole council's eyes were trained on her. "As you may all know, Lord Pluto disposed of his body by the dipping him into the River Styx. In that case, he has a high chance of having the curse of Achilles as well without him being aware of it."

There were murmurs between the gods and goddesses. Jupiter demanded silence before he spoke. "The council shall now decide."

Diana was the first to speak. "He is a symbol of disgrace to me and my hunters." She stared coldly at the lord of the dead. "I suggest we find his Achilles spot and dispose of him at once!"

Apollo who had been silently observing them finally spoke up. "I have to disagree with my little sister here. He has great potential and could serve Olympus quite well. I don't see any reason why he deserves to be disposed off, for now that is."

The other gods and goddesses seemed to consider this, particularly Mars, Venus, Vulcan and Neptune. Apollo is the god of prophecy. If any of them is to come up with a way of taking care of someone who still only posed a threat in the future, it better be him.

"For once, I agree with Lord Apollo." Minerva said. "We are still uncertain if he would be a hero or a destroyer of Olympus. I have learned from my past mistakes. We shall not resolve to dispose off our heroes who may be our only hope but I will also keep in mind the precautions. I suggest we grant him a few months time and then decide his fate."

"For those in favour of destroying Markus right this moment, raise your right hand." Jupiter declared. A few hands went up; Ceres, Juno, and of course, Diana. "Those who wish to delay his judgement, raise your right hand."

Majority of the gods and goddesses raised their hands. Bacchus and Mercury abstained. "The council have decided. In four months time, he shall be observed closely and his actions monitored constantly. When the time comes, we shall then decide his fate."

"Brother, he is my son; a part of my family; OUR family. He deserves to live like everyone else!" Pluto said almost pleadingly.

Jupiter replied, unmoved. "I am aware of that. But if killing him means for the greater good of Olympus; our family, I will be more than willing to oblige. You have witnessed for the past millennia that I do what I say I will do and what has to be done."

Pluto looked down. There's obviously nothing he can do now but to wait and see what Markus will turn out in four months time.

"This council is adjourned!" Jupiter said with finality and they all began disappearing one by one leaving Pluto pondering on what his son's fate will be. One goddess though, didn't disappear just yet. She came forward and stood in front of Pluto. Her silver eyes boring deep into his. Diana.

"What your children have done is unforgivable." She spoke coldly. "His coming will bring great evil into this world. Apollos has seen it!"

"He is just an innocent boy back then!" Pluto replied. "And he is until now."

"But soon he will be more than just that." Diana continued. "Once he knows everything, he will come to Olympus seeking only one thing: Vengeance."

"I will do everything in my power not to let that happen." He raised his right hand. "I swear on the River Styx!"

Thunder boomed. Diana moved closer and stared at him even more intently before saying. "He is powerful. No one knows what powers he had gained all this time but we all know that what he has is much more greater than any demigod that ever lived. Since we are forbidden to bring him harm in the next few months, then there's only one thing we have left to do. Do not let him know the truth!"

And with that Diana disappeared leaving Pluto with a very heavy decision to make.

**(A/N:** I feel some OOC'ness from the gods while writing this chapter. If you feel the same, please notify me so I can work on it. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	6. VI

**(A/N: **Hey guys! It's been a while but I'm finally back! I just got this huge idea going on in my head all this time and I just had to write this down and post it on my other story but now I'm back. I tweaked and added some stuff on the ending of chapter five just for you guys to know. Chapter six, here we go…**)**

**Chapter Six: The First Night**

That night, I had a dream. And what I felt after that is completely opposite of what I felt back at dinner.

_***Dream sequence…_

"Markus! Markus! Get down!" Schneider grabbed my head and pulled me down. Etta and Fritz were already hiding behind the crates. A large horn sounded and we heard the sound of the metal chains of the anchor clanging. The ship is preparing to dock out. The sound of fighting still persisted. I guess my mother's putting up quite a fight.

I heard my mother scream. I broke away from Schneider, who was holding me down all this time, and glanced at the harbour. It was unusual. Back then, I never broke away from him but just knelt down and sobbed. I didn't see what happened or became of my mother. But this time was different.

Several of the silver dressed girls lay wounded on the floor. My mother was pinned down by the huge brown wolf. I don't know how or why but just looking at the she-wolf, I could understand what she is doing; asking where I am.

My mother laughed mockingly and shook her head slowly. The wolf let out a growl and lunged for my mother's neck. A surge of hate and rage filled me as I watched her broken body being tossed in the water. The ship gently wadded offshore and was soon facing the wide endless blue of the Atlantic. I just stood on my knees frozen with realization. I always wondered what had happened to her and now I just witnessed it first hand.

All of a sudden everything blurred. I found myself standing in the entrance of a large room. A very large room with twelve thrones made of white marble standing more than twelve feet high. Sitting on each of them were men and women fifteen feet tall dressed in Greek chitons. They were arguing among themselves but what I find strange is I don't hear their voices. In fact, I don't hear any sound as if I was deaf.

The man in the middle boomed. Or at least I though he did. The word I read from his mouth was '_Silence!'_

The other men and women stopped arguing. The man in the middle continued. I have no idea what he was saying but he was obviously very upset. He raised his hand as if ordering or calling out someone. A group of familiar teenage girls dressed in silver walked past me from behind and walked towards the middle of the room. There were five other people with them, two teenagers and three children, dressed in black and all having familiar pale features. They were all connected by bronze shackles on their legs and wrists. Many of the men and women were staring coldly at them.

The man in the middle held out his hand declared something. The other men and women nodded and most of them raised their hands. The four who didn't began to protest but soon stopped when they saw the hopelessness of the situation. The man in the middle nodded and stood up. The girls in silver stepped back and left the room. The group of people in black held hands tightly. They were trembling as if bracing themselves for what's about to happen.

The man held out his hand and a bronze cylinder appeared. The moment his fingers wrapped around it, millions of volts of electricity were emitted by the cylinder and lit up the whole room. He aimed the tip of the now charged cylinder on the group of people standing in the middle. Like a javelin, he threw it at them and the whole room exploded like a supernova before everything went black.

"_Interesting isn't it?"_ A voice rang in my head. A very deep but loud inhuman voice as if it came from someone really big. It was pitch black and I don't know where I am. I couldn't see, touch, or smell anything.

"_The Olympians making such decisions." _The voice continued, still coming from everywhere. _"They did it not to save the world. They did it to save their own lives. They knew that your kind could lead them to their downfall and that's why they ordered your annihilation."_

I tried to speak. I tried to ask what the voice was talking about but I couldn't seem to even pull out a whisper. The voice chuckled.

_So much to see young Markus. So much to see and to know! In due time, you shall learn everything and you shall take action yourself!" _The voice chuckled again and continued to do so before eventually fading.

***_End of dream sequence…_

I sat up. I took a deep breath and wiped the cold sweat in my forehead. I nearly jumped when I saw someone sitting on a chair on my bedside.

"Had a rough first night?" It was Cera. "It's already eight. A spectre woke me up and told me you were having a nightmare or something."

"A spectre?" I asked, rubbing my head and brushing the sleepiness in my eyes.

"You'll know soon enough. First thing's first: breakfast and then we go to combat training. I'll meet you at the dining hall." And with that, she shadow travelled away. I stretched my arms and hopped out of bed. Whatever that dream was about, I'll try not to think about it right now. I got one busy day ahead of me.

But I got a lot to ask father later…

**(A/N:** And so there it goes. It's really short I know but the next one would be longer. I'll try to post it as soon as I can. Read and review! Iron Raven out…**)**


	7. VII

**(A/N: **I'd like to thank **Em **for reviewing and submitting a suggestion. Since you're the first one to do so, I'll gladly oblige and apply your suggestion to my fic. Thanks again! To **SoulWriter0012: **LOL! It's alright if you use it. I don't really mind :D Anyways, chapter seven, here we go…**)**

**Chapter Seven: Forget-me-not**

My first day started with a delicious breakfast; almost enough to lift my mood from the dream I just had. Though it was just a dream, my mind still debated whether I should believe what I just saw but then again, I have a lot to ask father soon. After all, it was my first day and I thought things would go slowly with my schedule not being that tight yet. Or so I thought. Ashton on the other hand, had other ideas…

****xvx****

"C'mon Mark, just one more mile!" Ashton said somewhere below me.

We were climbing the wall of a valley overlooking the river Phlegethon; the river of fire. The whole place was lit up bright orange yellow as if the sun was right under us. Aside from the intense heat coming from the river and the extreme fatigue, the noises of the souls being burned pierced my ears making climbing all the way harder.

"Seriously, is this always the first thing you guys do every morning?" I asked almost in a shout; my voice drowned by the cries of agony.

Ashton managed to hear it though. "Not really. It's just that you've been stuck in that ice all this time and you need to defrost a little." I looked at him to see if he was joking. I really couldn't tell. To be honest, I still felt unusual this morning; as if my body isn't fully awake yet and that's not just because I had just woken up.

My foot slipped and landed on something soft. I didn't need to see what it was since it can only be Ashton's face. "Sorry!"

"Never happened. It's way better than having to try and catch you if you ever fall down there. Shadow travelling isn't very effective in this place." He managed to say. "Cera would be waiting for us up there probably along with Brandon. Darwin's in the infirmary from the last quest but he'll be fine. I guess your beast training will have to wait."

"Alright." I said and we resumed climbing. My whole body ached and my muscles soon felt like it was burning; literally. My shirt was damp with sweat and my eyes stung. Only a few hundred meters left. Great.

After about an hour, we managed to reach the top. I slumped near the edge breathing heavily where Cera came and tossed me a towel and a grey cotton shirt. She did the same with Ashton when he climbed up. He too was drenched in sweat but he doesn't seem to be that tired. He probably did this hundreds of times already.

"Thanks!" He told her as he caught the shirt and towel she tossed. He immediately took off his damp shirt and began to dry himself. Cera quickly turned away, biting her lip, and looked down on the burning river below. Her face was all red probably from the heat. I took off my shirt as well and welcomed the cold breeze touching my bare torso. All of a sudden, all the pain and fatigue went away. My body felt relaxed and energized as if I just bathed in a hot spring. I didn't even feel the heat of the Phlegethon anymore. I dried myself and put on the shirt.

"Pretty nice huh?" Ashton said with a knowing smile but he then turned to Cera as if noticing something. "Cera, where's Brandon?"

Cera turned around and faced us again. "He's in the infirmary as well."

"I thought he was okay?" Ashton wondered out loud.

"He said he was okay but he fainted a few minutes earlier. He probably used up a lot of energy." Cera reasoned. "So…now what?"

"Well…weapons training won't start until afternoon and I guess reanimation training is suspended as well." Ashton thought deeply. "I guess we have to go straight to shadow travelling."

A surge of excitement filled my chest. I've always wanted to do that. Ever since I arrived, I've felt a little out of place since I'm the only one who can't shadow travel.

"Great idea since you're here and all." He turned to me. "Cera would teach you basic shadow travelling since she's the best at that. Meet me guys after lunch." And with that, he shadow travelled away. I'll learn how to do that; very soon!

"C'mon, the best place to train is near the Asphodel Fields." She placed her hand on my shoulder and we were engulfed in darkness for two seconds or so. The next thing I knew, we were standing in the middle of an endlessly wide open field. There were patches of dried brown grass here and there. A lot of gigantic stalactites have impaled themselves on the ground. Countless translucent grey human shapes littered the whole field. There were so many souls and when I looked at the gates of Erebus in the far north, more streams of souls were coming in. The air was filled with such stillness it was nothing but lonely. Aside from the agonizing cries of the tortured souls far away, the only things we can hear are the distant barks somewhere in the gates and the occasional chattering sounds made by the souls. Though there were so many of them, I felt so desolate and alone. I sighed.

"I know how you feel." Cera said behind me. "You'll get used to it though."

I put my thoughts aside and remembered why we were here. "Are you the best shadow traveller?"

She smirked at that. "I'm the best teacher in shadow travelling. Not the best shadow traveller."

I frowned; confused. "Why is that?"

"I have the Eyes." She said a matter-of-factly. "Throughout history, some demigods, regardless of their parentage sometimes have unique abilities. It's a very rare thing to happen, take the children of Vulcan for one. Sometimes a child of Vulcan can summon and use fire in his own will; something other children of Vulcan aren't able to do. In our case however, it's more common."

"Like you?" I asked, beginning to understand what she means.

"Yup. Every time a person moves from one place to another even if he shadow travelled, he leaves a part of his essence behind. I can see that essence. I could track you wherever you go by following it. If you shadow travel, I would be able to see where you went by looking at the pathway you opened. It's really hard to explain."

"I see." It's a little confusing but I got most of it. "So what does it have to do with you being the best teacher in shadow travelling?"

"That's easy." She crossed her arms and gave me a knowing smile. "I'll be able to bring you back in case you get lost. It always happens during the first time. Rick was stranded in the Amazon, Michael in the Pacific Islands, Darwin in the Andes, Kimmy in North Korea, now that got Ashton really worried."

She smiled as she recalled. I on the other hand suddenly felt nervous. Sure, I've done it before but it was an accident. I wasn't even aware that I did it until father told me. Now that I'm going to try it again, my mind was swimming with hundreds of possible things that could go wrong. What if I shadow travelled accidentally somewhere deep in the Atlantic Ocean? Or maybe in the moon? Or what if I only managed to shadow travel half my body? It was a gruesome thought but I'm not really sure what to expect.

"Hey, anyone in there?" She waved her hand in front of my face. "You seem to be disturbed or something. If it's about this going wrong, I assure you that nothing bad will happen. Trust me. All you have to do is focus. You are a son of Pluto, it would be easy to learn as long as you do what I say."

We spent the next hour with her teaching me the basic stuff. The first thing was getting familiar with the shadow or the darkness; the primeval element of the whole universe. It was really complicated but it involved a lot of things that are very difficult to describe. I focused on being aware of its presence, how my mind can control it, how easily it can be manipulated, and finally, how to make a pathway. Making the pathway was kind of easy. All you have to do is to visualize the location you want and you'll just know if you had already created a pathway. Maintaining the pathway is the hard part. You have to constantly visualize the location you want. A slight slip out of focus can be disastrous. It may change the location you are aiming for without you knowing it or worse.

"Very nice." Cera smiled as she stared on something in front of me. I don't literally see the pathway but I can feel it. "That looks like Europe, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, time for the next step. Just as I told you."

I kept my eyes closed and mentally visualized myself going into the pathway. All of a sudden, there was a _woosh_ sound. The air around me felt different; the smell of fresh earth and grass, the warm summer breeze, the sunlight on my face, the chirping of birds and insects. I opened my eyes and I was on the shady banks of Kleinhesseloher Lake in Enlischer Garten in Munich. A lot has changed in this park where my mother used to take me. The lake though still seemed unchanged. I chose this place since I want to go somewhere totally opposite to the Asphodel Fields and this place seemed perfect.

"Wow." Cera muttered behind me. "You got to where you exactly wanted to go. Congratulations."

She looked around and got absorbed in the beauty of the place as well. "I should come here very often. Seriously."

I felt the nostalgia sink in. An elderly couple passed by and greeted us in German. I greeted them back though the elderly woman looked really familiar. As they were walking away, she looked back at me and frowned as if she remembered something. I found myself frowning at her as well, I swear she looked familiar!

After a few minutes, Cera tapped me in the shoulder. "Time to go. It's almost lunch."

I nodded. I suddenly remembered something. "Uh, Cera? Would you mind if I go to one last place?"

She thought about it for a moment then agreed. "Just don't take too long. I'll be coming with you just in case."

I nodded and walked over to one of the nearby elms. There was a bunch of blue forget-me-nots growing by its base. I bent down and picked up a few. I then closed my eyes and concentrated. There was another _woosh _sound as I entered the pathway.

I opened my eyes at the very loud sound of a ship's horn as it began to leave port. It was a busy day in Boston Harbour. I was standing by the edge of the docks holding the bunch of forget-me-nots on one hand. They were her favourite. She would put it in her ear, stung it on a necklace, or make beautiful bouquets out of them back then.

I gently held out my hand in front of me. All the while, memories flashed in my mind. I opened my palm and let the flowers drop into the water below, slowly floating away in the waves. "Forget me not, mother." I said in a whisper. Before I knew it, my head was bowed and I was sobbing.

After a few minutes, I managed to calm down. I turned around and surely, Cera was sitting on top of one of the steel containers looking at me with eyes of sympathy. She hopped down and ran forward to meet me.

"That person really is special to you. I'm sure he or she would be grateful for what you did." She muttered, close to tears as well. "Let's go back. We're late for lunch."

I wiped my eyes and nodded. We then shadow travelled back without saying another word.

**(A/N: **It's kinda short, slightly boring, and also a little sad for my part. Wait a minute; did I just review my own chapter? Never mind, I should be leaving the reviewing to you guys. I decided to cut this chapter into two since it's gotten really long. That means that the next chapter would be out sooner! How's that? The next chapter would be more training and stuff and some accidental visits to some places and so on. I won't spoil anything more. Anyways, read and review. I'd like to thank all those who have done so. I hope you guys are still following my story. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	8. VIII

**(A/N:** "That means, the next chapter would be out sooner. How's that?" - Please disregard these things that I have said in the last author's note. Sometimes, you have no idea how busy tomorrow could be, and that's exactly what happened to me. Never mind that. One more month and I'm getting my hands on a Son of Neptune copy. I'm up to date when it comes to sneak peaks and stuff and I gotta admit, it killed several parts of my story even though it's just a sneak peak. That's also one of the reasons for my writer's block. If any of you are easily bored of museums and stuff. You might find this boring. Anyways, moving on…**)**

**Chapter Eight: Gone but not Forgotten**

Cera probably forgot that I'm new to this shadow travelling business. She went on ahead, leaving me on a miserable state of trying to form a pathway with my concentration constantly being bugged by loud ship horns, seagulls flying overhead, noises of busy men, etc. My eyes were shut tight, trying to picture my room back in the Underworld but my thoughts kept on shifting; flashing through different places.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, an image popped in my head. I didn't know where it came from; its like as if someone just stuffed it inside my head. The next thing I knew, there was the familiar _woosh _sound and everything went silent. All the noises from the harbour just disappeared in a split second. The air now smelled damp and musty. I opened my eyes and I was in a strange dimly lit room; as if I was inside a hallway of large black stone castle. The only light came from silver chandeliers with candles lit with blue fire.

There was an old wooden door in front of me covered with cobwebs including the handle. A strong feeling urged me to open it and so I did. The door slowly opened with a loud creaking sound which echoed. I found myself looking at a very strange room.

It was a very large circular room like a gallery. The floor was now polished black marble. Sixteen Greek style columns surround the room with black banners of a helmed skull with cross swords hanging on each of them. Large glowing bluish-green crystals line the ceiling providing a good amount of light source along with a large glowing tainted glass mosaic of Pluto himself wearing a black helm on the centre; just above a five-tiered dried stone fountain. It really looked like a gallery of a museum. Several paintings were lined in the walls all around the room along with glass cases of all shape and sizes containing so many different things on display everywhere I didn't know where to start looking.

I started with the one nearest to me. It was a glass case about three-feet long. Inside was a three foot long black sword with a silver hilt. There was a tag below. It read:

_Alexander Summers_

_1975-1989_

_Slayer of Polyphemus._

_Died in the line of duty._

I wonder who he is. He's probably another son of Pluto. I looked on the next display beside it. It was a dagger. Or what's left of it. What remained were the hilt and some broken shards of dark glass. This one belonged to someone older.

_Susanne Estelle_

_1947-1960_

_Killed three hundred ninety-two Cyclopes in the Battle of Marseille._

_Died in the line of duty._

Now that's something. I bet she was really powerful if she did it all with only that dagger. I went on with the other displays. Different names, different times, different objects, but they were all identical in a way. Each case contains an item, usually a weapon, under the name of a designated person or persons. All of them also have one similar line in their tags:_ Died in the line of duty._ It was always what's written on the bottom. Including this one:

_Wilson Grey, Amanda Collins and Blake Silverbay_

_1990-2005, 1992-2005, 1990-2005_

_Gave way to the founding of the Third Legion._

_Died in the line of duty._

There were three silver necklaces lined up side to side. The symbol was a skull wearing a helm on top of crossed swords with the Roman numeral "II" embedded in the middle where the swords meet. A lot of things puzzled me with this one. What's with the 'giving way to the Third Legion' thing? Also, one of them has Silverbay as his last name. I remembered Ashton's surname being Silverbay as well. Are they connected somehow? The thought stayed until I moved to the other display. This one though was something else. Way different than the others. The weapon on display was a pistol. I still recognized the model since it was popular in my country during the 1930's. A Luger. The name below shocked me.

_Adolf Hitler_

_1889-1945_

_Attempted to bring forth change._

_Died for the cause._

Now that is something. The chancellor of Germany was my brother! I took a step back and bumped on the case behind me. The glass fell off but I managed to catch it just in time but the metal object inside clattered to the ground. It was a Swiss Army knife except that the metal was pure black and the casing was etched with silver which read: _The Desolator_. I lifted the glass and placed it back to where it was before I went over and picked it up. I was about to put it back when I saw the tag. It read:

_Markus Abendroth _

_1922-1939_

_Forsaken in The Annihilation_

_Gone but not forgotten_

Before I could wonder how this thing had anything to do with me, the door creaked open and I panicked. I slipped the knife in my pocket and moved away from my display case as far as possible. I hid behind one of the taller glass cases; the one with a tattered trench coat. It was Cera. She's obviously looking for me and followed my pathway here.

"Markus, are you he-" She stopped herself when she realized where she was. Out of curiosity, she began looking around as well. She started on the opposite side; circling the room counter-clockwise. Luckily, there were so many glass displays that she missed mine. She noticed the one with the three necklaces though and she frowned. I bet she's thinking about the idea of Ashton being connected to that Blake guy. She then turned towards me and looked me straight in the eye before saying. "You can stop hiding you know. I've already seen you the moment I entered the room."

I mentally slapped myself. I forgot about her special ability. I moved away from the display case and walked towards her.

"What is this place? Why did you come here?" She asked. "And who is Blake Silverbay?"

"I don't know." I said honestly. "And I have no idea how I got here."

She was now frowning at me; her dark green eyes searching mine. "That's impossible. You should know what the place looks like before you can shadow travel to it."

"I swear I don't know!" I raised my hands in surrender momentarily. "It just popped in my head and next thing I knew, I was here."

"And you two should never be here in the first place!" A voice boomed behind us. It was father. His glowering eyes darted from Cera to me and back. "Cera, wait outside and shut the door."

Cera nodded quickly and shadow travelled outside before shutting the door as told. As the door was shut, Pluto's expression softened to a tired one. There was clearly something troubling him. He rubbed his temples and sat by the stone fountain. "Come here, my boy."

I went over and stood beside him. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again.

"This used to be the pride of my palace." His eyes wandered to all the display cases and the paintings. "This room used to represent the heroic deeds of you past brothers and sisters. As you can see, what they have done is so much greater than other demigods. This used to be a room to remember those who gave their lives in honour of the House of Pluto. Honour only I and a few had recognized. But after what happened to you and the others, this room had become a place for sad memories."

He stood up and walked towards my empty glass case. I hurriedly went over and fished out the knife. I was about to return but he stopped me. "That weapon is rightfully yours. It had been waiting for you for so long. Now it is in the right hands."

A weapon? I glanced down on the small metal object; figuring how I would able to fight Ashton using this but something is different about it. Just by holding it, I feel some sort of connection. It's hard to explain.

"The Desolator. A weapon designed after the Titan Lord's very own which can severe a soul from its body but that one however, does so much more." He said, a little proudly.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked, still looking down at my 'weapon'.

"Because you can start anew." He replied back. "And I will make sure that you take the right path."

That got me puzzled even more. "What do you mean?"

He fished out something from his pocket and tossed it to me. It was an ambrosia juice-box. "You must be thirsty. Go ahead."

Without hesitation, I punched the straw in and sipped; expecting the warm milk taste but it was different. It was bitter, really bitter. I managed to take a gulp before I felt nauseous. My head suddenly felt numb and my vision was swaying. "What's happening?"

"I'm sorry Markus. But it's for your own good." He looked at me sympathetically. "I want you to forget."

"Forget?" I dropped the box. Suddenly, my mind was blank. I tried to think about something but nothing came. I tried to remember anything that happened today but I couldn't think of anything. Why? Why is he doing this?

"You just drank water from the River Lethe. It would all be better when you wake up." He said stepping forward and catching me before I fell over. Who is he anyway? My vision was spinning faster and faster and soon, everything went black.

***A few hours later. On Mount Olympus…

"He would remember nothing when he wakes up. That I assure all of you." Pluto declared as he stood before the council. Markus is now sleeping in his room. He had already talked to Cera and the others and told them exactly what to do once he wakes up.

There were nods from some of the gods and goddesses. Minerva was the first to speak, with a little admiration in her face. "That is truly a clever plan, Lord Pluto; that I have to admit."

"I am aware of that." Jupiter said. "It seems that he shall be just another member of the Black Legion."

"I don't want to be so sure!" Diana spoke up. "What if he remembers?"

"The river Lethe is known to wipe out the memory of even a Titan" Neptune countered. "There is no way he could regain his memories."

"The prophecy hasn't been changed at all though." Apollo said, lounging on his throne. "It went just as it should be."

Everyone looked at him in utter silence. The colour drained on Pluto's face.

"Then the verdict shall not be changed. He will still be observed and decided upon in four months time." Jupiter declared with finality. "The council is adjourned. They all began disappearing, leaving Pluto behind again with someone. But this time, it was Apollo.

"You shouldn't have said that!" Pluto spat.

Apollo merely shrugged. "I just follow what the prophecy says. You know what happens when you try to alter it."

Pluto's jaws tightened. He remembered the incident with the di Angelos along with all the others.

Apollo turned away but turned back again as if almost forgetting something. "Oh, and one more thing, his first quest with the Black Legion has already been prophesized. Your medium, Rowena, should have received the prophecy by now. That's all." And he disappeared.

Pluto went back to the Underworld. He walked briskly towards the courtyard pass Persephone's silver pomegranate trees until he reached a fairly large open field. He then summoned hundreds of undead from all periods of time. He always does this to let off his rage. "What are you waiting for?" He shouted at them. "Attack me!"

They were reluctant at first but then charged. Pluto glowed with dark energy and soon loud explosions can be heard throughout the Underworld.

**(A/N: **Did I just wipe out Mark's memories? I just did. Let me know what you think of this and of the whole chapter as well. I might update in a few days or so. Once again don't pay attention to what I just said. You know how inconsistent I am. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	9. IX

**(A/N: **I'm back! Been a long time but I've finally got my hands on a Son of Neptune copy and finished it in three hours. I gotta admit, it killed a huge part of my story. You guys won't notice it yet but yeah, it has affected some parts I've already published but it affected most was the parts I was yet to publish. Good thing I waited for it to be released before I continued the fic. Sorry about that. Anyways, on with the story…**)**

**Chapter Nine: Birth of a Prophecy**

Blank. Just blank. My mind that is.

I opened my eyes and I was in a familiar room. How I got here? No idea. What is this place? Still have no idea. What happened to me? Don't know that too. Most of all; who am I? Uhhh…

I shut my eyes tight; trying to remember. Something starting with an R; or was it an A or M? Nothing. Why can't I remember anything! My mind felt like a vast empty void. I felt so lost but relieved as well; as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Whatever happened to me, I'm not just going to lie here. I'm going to find out myself.

I sat up and felt something cold in my pocket. Frowning, I pulled it out: a Swiss army knife except its metal was pure black with silver etching of the word _Desolator._ The black metal didn't gleam from the bluish liquid light coming from the open window. It seemed to absorb it even. There were three blades of the same size folded in it. Why would I have a Swiss knife with three identical blades, I have no idea as well.

Out of curiosity, I flicked one open and the next thing I knew I was holding a six inch black dagger with a silver hilt. I nodded. Impressed. Now I don't know how to put it back into its Swiss knife form. I shrugged and placed it on the bedside table. As my hand let go, it magically changed back. I picked it up again. This time, I flicked the middle blade and I found myself holding a four foot long sword made of the same metal. It felt so balanced under my grip. I seem to know a thing or two about sword fighting judging by the way I instinctively hold it. I smiled. Under normal circumstances, I should have panicked and dropped it but it all seemed to be so natural.

I got up and went to the window, sword in hand. There was not much to see. A very wide grey plain with dead brown grass stretched almost endlessly occasionally cut by bare valleys. There was no sky. It was replaced by a huge cave's ceiling with gigantic stalactites threatening to fall anytime. Somewhere on a distance loomed a large gate with three archways. There were shadowlike figures milling about pouring into the plains but the figures seemed restless. No. Not figures. Souls. The word just popped in my mind.

I winced. I'm getting on the right track here. I just need to focus.

_Whoosh!_

I felt a sudden presence behind me. My instincts took over. I spun around and my blade connected with a similar black dagger half an inch from a teenage girl's face. My jaw dropped. She was quick to have intercepted that but still…

"Hi." She said calmly. "If I put away my dagger, will you still try to cut my head off?"

I shook my head and lowered my sword. "Uh, I'm really sorry."

"That's a nice toy." She said with her gaze fixed on my blade. Her dark green eyes seemed to take in every detail. "Father must have given it to you."

"Father?" I sighed and sat back on the bed, not even bothering to ask her name. She looked kind of familiar though. It's like one of those feelings you get when you met that person somewhere you think you know but you just can't put a finger on it. "Look. I'm all confused. I don't know anything. I don't even know who I am!"

I placed my sword beside me which immediately turned back to Swiss knife mode and I buried my face in my palms. She sighed and muttered something to herself about _doing something all over again_. Whatever that meant. She sat down beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You're Markus Abendroth; the newest member of the Black Legion. Sixteen years old. German descent. Grew up in South Dakota. Joined the Legion exactly three months ago." She said in a monotone. I looked at her. Her expression was blank but I can see traces of pity and somehow, regret, as if she was forced to say something she didn't want to. She continued anyway. "Your last quest didn't go quite well. You fell on the river Lethe and lost all your memories."

"I'm Markus?" A pain surged in my temples for a brief moment making me wince. Voices whispered in my head. Different voices calling out my name. It took a while before the voices faded away.

"Are you alright Mark?" She was worried now. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine." I lied. To be honest, I'm totally spooked. "How about you? Who are you?"

She muttered something like '_here we go again'_ before giving me a reply. "I'm Cera. Second Centurion of the Black Legion which means I'm third in command. I'm also your half-sister. There are a lot of things we need to talk about."

****1 week later…

I could say that it never felt good to wake up not remembering anything. I know I should be feeling the opposite. I should be anxious and restless but I feel light and relieved. I woke up in a familiar dark room, almost sliced a pretty Portuguese girl who claimed to be my sister, I was suddenly a member of the so-called Black Legion, I am the son of Pluto, and I had an accident on one of our quests and fell on the river Lethe rendering me to lose all my memories. I woke up with a blank mind. I don't remember my name, my family, or the world I live in. Nothing except basic facts. But still, it felt like I've been set free from something. It's really hard to explain.

It's been a week since that incident and I never felt so free. I probably had a lot of trouble back in my old life. Of course there was combat training and so many other stuff to do but I did it all, and as they say, I did it quite well. Combat training with Ashton, our second eldest, was like daily exercise along with climbing the valley by the river Phlegethon. I can't use Desolator though since we only use steel in practice sessions so it practically hasn't seen any action yet. Desolator's third blade also seemed to be stuck so I have no idea what weapon it is; probably a spear or something. I could also shadow travel easily but I haven't mastered it yet like the others who made it look like second nature. Liz, our fourth eldest, taught me how to reanimate undead and summon spectres which wasn't that much of a problem except that it drains my energy quicker. It takes a lot of energy especially for a beginner. One of the few things I haven't tried is beast training; which means getting my own animal companion most preferably a hellhound. Since Darwin, who has a special ability of taming any animal (Underworld based), is still in a coma for some reason I guess it will have to wait.

By now, I was a regular trainee (they have a Roman term for it, _probatio_, or something like that but they didn't really care) along with Kim, Ryan, Michael, Haley, and Patrick. I used to be a regular legionnaire until I lost all my memories including how to use my abilities and stuff which meant I was back to square one; demoted as you might say. The six of us trainees were regular residents of the game room where they taught me how to play video games (which I found extremely addicting) along with other stuff in our free time, which was to say, a lot. All the other regulars often went out mainly to restore order in the Fields of Punishment which isn't looking pretty these days, as if it ever was pretty. Apparently, there was constant rioting and jailbreaks but the Legion managed to contain it, for now. Some of them would also go on some other quests we know nothing about and come back by the end of the day or the next looking totally beat up; spending the rest of the day in the infirmary or in his/her room.

Anyways, it had been a busy week but I thought it would just be another day today. Not quite. Michael, Rick and I just finished sparring with Ashton, which meant ganging up on him and trying to overcome him with our numbers. Shadow travelling and other abilities were not permitted. At the end, we all sat down on the long stone bench panting like dogs in July. We were drying ourselves up when Brandon and Liz came in. Liz was this gloomy silent girl of seventeen with long bleach blonde hair while Brandon, the eldest, was a large guy of nineteen. He stood taller than Ashton by about two inches and was more muscular in build. His dark hair was in dreadlocks and he would always be seen wearing his Brazilian football jersey shirt; a large two handed sword was strapped on his back. He was from Sao Paolo and had been in the Legion for five years now.

"Ashton, Mark's shadow travel exercise is cancelled." He glanced at me with a raised eyebrow as if sizing me up. He is my half-brother but we're not really that close since he shows some signs of distaste when it comes to trainees like us. That's probably the reason why Ashton is in charge of our training. "Rowena wants to see him."

"For what?" Ashton asked as he dried his hair with a towel leaving it in a mess.

Cera materialized beside the two a second later. "Hey Ashton, nice hair. C'mon Mark. We're already running behind schedule."

"He has to go somewhere. Rowena wants to see him." Liz said, emotionless.

"Well, off you go. You know where to find her." Brandon gestured for me to leave. The others still looked puzzled. I shrugged and shadow travelled in front of the penthouse doors.

The penthouse is located at the highest point of the mansion where not many ever come by. It makes it more of an attic since most of the rooms there are just used for storing useless or old stuff but someone lives here. Unlike the typical houses of spirit mediums which are mostly dark hidden caves decorated with plenty of spiritual junk, Rowena lives in an actual penthouse suite. I've only been here once with Cera while shadow travelling just for the sake of me knowing where to find it in case of a quest which I'm not going to have in at least a month when we all graduate from being trainees and finally become regulars.

I looked on both sides. The corridor was empty and the eerie silence would convince me that I was alone even though I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched. I examined the two suits of armour displayed on both sides of the doorway. What's unusual about them is they looked badly burnt from the inside.

The doors creaked open by themselves. I was greeted by a warm draft of air that smelled like lavender. The room wasn't that big and it had little decorations. There was a TV that looked really dusty as if it was never even used, an equally dusty carpet, some ceramic vases, oriental nightshades, some wind chimes by the windows, a four posted bed, nothing special really.

"Uh…Hello?" I stepped in cautiously. "Rowena, are you here?"

"It's good to finally meet you, Markus. You look better in person." A voice behind me spoke up. I turned around and saw a girl about fourteen wearing a bathrobe. She looked Asian with her caramel skin, dark eyes and hair. She was about a foot shorter. One of her palms was covered by a bandage.

"Hi. Brandon said you wanted to see me." I said; still wondering about the way she mentioned seeing me _in person_. It sounds like she's been watching me all this time.

"Yes. I did send for you. Follow me." Her expression was calm and so was her tone. She walked towards a door adjacent to the balcony. I first thought it was a bathroom or something but it wasn't anywhere near that. She opened it to reveal a dark room lit by candles. The way she walked towards a dark room made it look like she was in a trance but what I noticed most was the smell; a somehow sour odour. I followed her a little reluctantly. We stopped in the middle of the dark room. The flames in the candles flickered and dance making wild shadows on the walls.

"What is this place?" I asked; starting to feel uneasy. There were marks on the walls but I can't make them out. The smell was also strong now.

"Don't be afraid; it's just how it works." She went to a table on the far corner and lifted some sort of bowl filled with water and placed it in the middle of the room. She then pulled a knife from here robe and dipped it in the bowl.

"What are you doing?" I asked. She didn't answer but instead she sat down cross-legged in front of the things she had brought out and began to unwrap the bandage in her hand. I'm not feeling good with this. I sat down across from her with the bowl between us.

"Stay calm. Whatever I do, do not leave this room or try to stop the ritual by any means." She said in a warning tone. I gulped and slid a hand in my pocket; feeling the familiar cold touch of Desolator in my palm. She looked at me straight in the eye; the flames on the candles dancing in them. "You have been chosen for the next quest, brother. I hope you do well."

She began chanting:

_Spirit of Delphi_

_I command your presence_

_Bless upon me_

_Your gift and your essence_

_To bring forth a new prophecy _

_No matter how vague or odd_

_To this mortal world_

_By the way of my own blood!_

She then held out her palm and slashed at it viciously with her knife. Blood flowed freely into the bowl. I sat up, startled but she shook her head in warning. All of a sudden, green mist started to radiate from her body and coil all around her. She exhaled and green mist flowed from it as well. Her eyes were glowing green. She then sprang up on all fours, dipped her wounded hand on the bowl and started writing things on the floor with her own blood.

I just sat there and stared; unable to move my body. She was obviously possessed. A large part of me wanted to run out for help but she did say that I shouldn't stop the ritual at any means. Who knows? It might make things worse.

There was a blinding flash of green light that lit up the whole room in a split second. The next thing I knew, it was all dark again and Rowena was splayed motionless on the floor; the green mist had dissipated. The ritual is over. I went to her and sat her up. For a moment, she just sat there motionless. After a few seconds, she gasped.

"It's done." She was panting heavily and was in cold sweat. "You can open the lights now. Light switch is on the right side of the door."

"Was that all necessary?" I asked still holding her for support. She looked really frail and the colour had drained from her face and arms. I could also sense her life force fading a little but it's starting to recover. "I mean, that slashing and chanting and all?"

"It's all part of it." She said between coughs. She began wrapping a bandage on her palm again. "The Spirit of Delphi has already chosen its host maiden. I can only serve as a temporary host and even doing so is really dangerous but I'm the Ultimate Medium. It's my special ability to channel any spirit's essence into my body; for a price that is and only for a short time if that spirit is too strong such as that of the Oracle's."

"Hang on." I carried a stool from the far corner and sat her unto it. I walked over to the doorway and flicked open the lights. The sight that greeted me wasn't pretty at all. The unpainted cement walls were stained with unintelligible blood marks and so was the floor. So that explains the smell. She was sitting there still looking very weak; staring at the newly written marks on the floor. They read:

_The lost son awoken from slumber_

_The Heart of the world bears the answer_

_The forsaken and cursed shall unleash their hate_

_The Rise of the Underworld upon the lost son's fate_

"I-Idon't understand." I admitted. "The lost son? Rise of the Underworld? What does it have to do with me?"

"Only time can answer that but by the looks of things, you will have a great part in it." She said; still staring at the prophecy. "The last line tells about the Rise of the Underworld upon the lost son's fate. I wonder…"

"I might have lost my memories but I clearly am not the lost son." I told her. The prophecy doesn't even make sense!

"I am forbidden to tell you anything about it but you clearly are the one in this prophecy." She was clearly hiding something. Scratch that, ever since I've woken up without my memories, it felt like everyone is hiding something from me.

"You will find out soon though." She continued. "The line says that you should find the answer-

"In the Heart of the world." I finished. She nodded. "I should let everyone know about this right? Will you be okay if I leave you here or should I call Cera to take care of your hand?"

"I will be fine. You better head on and tell the others."

I turned around and shadow-travelled away. Whatever the prophecy meant and if it really meant that I was the "lost son", I won't be able to know unless I get my memories back. They better start talking or if not, I'll find the answer on my own. In the Heart of the world. Wherever that is…

**(A/N:** So how was it? Was the prophecy convincing enough? Took me half an hour to make that and it wasn't easy; summarizing the whole story in four lines and all. Let me know what you think of it. So far, I would be able to update for at least five times a month. That's a promise. Anyways, I'll be posting another chap in a few days or in a couple of weeks or so. It depends. Don't forget to review! See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	10. X

**(A/N: **Hey guys! After getting over an enormous writer's block, I finally came up with this chapter. This chap came out sooner than I expected all thanks to **Poseidon'sdaughter19 **a.k.a **Em**. LOL it was you all along. Thanks for your reviews. It sped things up quite a bit. Anyways, chapter ten is up. Enjoy!**)**

**Chapter Ten: Under Siege**

I shadow traveled to the game room since it's the only part of the house that I can surely find someone. As usual, Rick was sprawled on his favourite couch with a game controller on one hand and a soda can on the other. Michael was sitting by the window listening to his ipod while staring blankly outside. I know very well that the game room is nowhere near to being the _Heart of the world_ except probably for these two but I still have to try my luck by asking these guys.

"Hey man," Rick greeted me as he resumed his Battlefield 3. "You okay? What happened up there? She was a real creeper the only time I met her. She should host the Halloween party next month."

"She's okay. Somehow…" I sat on the floor and leaned back on his couch. "Hey Rick, can I have a sec?"

He raised his brow and looked at me for a split second before his eyes went back to the screen. I kept staring at him and he sighed after a few seconds and paused the game. "Alright, alright. You seem dead serious. If it's about getting out of this rat hole for even a day and go to the surface to hang out with some random hot girls, forget it. There's no getting out of here until they say so. Well, actually you can. I do it all the time."

He laughed obviously proud of himself. I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, you know it's not that! It's something about me."

"What about you?" Michael joined us.

"The time I woke up without my memories." I began. "When Cera explained to me everything that happened before I lost them, she seemed to be hiding something. I was wondering what. What happened to me back then? What happened to that quest I was in?"

"Uh…" Both of them said in unison and exchanged nervous glances.

"C'mon guys." I almost pleaded. "You're all not telling me everything. What could've happened back then that I shouldn't know about?"

_Boooommm! Boooom! Boooooooommmmm! Boooooommmmm!_

A series of distant explosions shook the room and a small amount of plaster rained from the ceiling.

"We're under attack…" Rick exhaled in relief but sprang up afterwards and cried in alarm. "We're under attack! Wait. How are we under attack?"

"I thought Ashton said this place is totally hidden from anybody except for us?" Michael said; totally confused as we are.

Just then, a greyish figure shimmered beside Michael almost making him jump. The figure was that of an old man in a black suit. When he spoke, he sounded like five of him was speaking at once but in a gentlemanly fashion. "My mistress Rowena wishes the three of you to proceed to the lobby. Master Ashton is rounding everyone in."

He bowed and just like that, the spectre dissipated from sight. We exchanged glances. Rick shrugged. "I told you she can be really creepy sometimes but I gotta get myself one of those tuxedo dudes. Master Patrick. Yeah…"

"Well…let's get going then." Michael said and he shadow travelled in a hurry.

"We'll talk later bro. See ya." Rick went after him. I sighed. They got away this time.

***Lobby***

The six of us: Patrick, Michael, Ryan, Haley, Kim and I gathered in the lobby. Ashton was waiting for us there.

"I'll make this short and clear." Ashton paced around the room like a general in the war movies we watched during Wednesdays. His dark outfit was splattered with mud as if he just rolled on it; a six foot double-edged Stygian two handed sword strapped on his back. "We got about a thousand Earthborne storming the fields of Asphodel and they're making their way here now. They are mud creatures born from Gaea. No one knows why they are here but it's clear that they're not here for anything friendly. I've seen what all of you can do and I know that you can handle yourselves out there. We don't have a choice anyway since they're about to destroy our home. We'll use the coliseum as our command center and field hospital so if you get wounded or anything, you know where to go. Let's do this!"

A tiny cheer erupted from our group and we all shadow travelled to the coliseum.

***Coliseum***

I've never been in action before as far as I can remember; which isn't much. The moment we arrived at the coliseum, we all knew this wasn't just a tiny skirmish. It was a full-scale war. We were all by the stands and had a good view at what's been happening. The Fields of Asphodel were a mix of brown, white, green and grey as the so-called Earthbornes clashed with the undead and security ghouls while green fireballs from the catapults stationed at the gates rained in on them. On the far end, across the massive horde of Earthbornes, was a huge gaping pit where more of them were springing out every second. Our forces were holding out but they won't last forever.

"Whoa…" Was all Rick can say.

"You rookies just gonna watch the show or you wanna be in it?" Brandon called us from below. He too was splattered with mud except his huge black two handed sword. "Ashton, I'm backing up Liz. She's got a lot on her and Cera too." And he shadow travelled away.

"He's right. Enough with the sightseeing. I need to get you all in position. C'mon, Rowena's waiting." Ashton said.

Rowena was sitting on a carpet laid in the center of the arena between the two suits of armor I've seen before. Why would she bring them here?

Haley was tying her wet brown hair in a ponytail and spoke to her in a low voice. "Ugh. Seriously Wen, next time you summon a spectre, make sure it waits outside the shower stall next time!"

"I'm sorry Haley but it's urgent." Rowena said; dismissing the subject. She still looked weak from the ritual earlier and her palm was freshly wrapped in bandages. "Ashton, my observer spectres reported that their army is split into four. The largest group is heading right to our mansion and Cera is holding them off. Another is laying siege on the Gates where Liz and Brandon are. The third is approaching the Fields of Punishment and the Furies are having a hard time. The last group is heading towards father's castle. His Vanguard can be more than a match for those creatures but with their numbers, we'll still need to back them up. So far, there are one-thousand four hundred and fifty-nine of them with twenty more being summoned every second."

"This is bad. We can't hold out if they keep coming." Ashton's face was grim. "Any word from dad?"

Rowena shook her head. "I couldn't contact him at the moment which is strange but I do sense something else. There is something coming. Something much stronger than these Earthbornes. It's almost here."

"Whatever it is we just have to wait and find out. Alright listen up." He turned to us. "Mark, you're coming with me. We're backing up Cera. Ryan, Haley and Kim, you take the ones by dad's palace. Rick and Michael, you help the security ghouls and the Furies in defending the Fields of Punishment. If ever those souls in there escape, we're gonna be into something worse. Brandon and Liz will have the gates covered. If you need help just find a safe place and try to shadow travel back here."

"Gotcha." Haley and her group shadow travelled away.

"What if we can't shadow travel back here?" Michael asked.

"C'mon you sissy. We'll figure that out later." Rick grabbed him and they were gone too.

Ashton sighed. "Ready little bro?" I slipped my hand in my pocket and grasped Desolator. My knees were shaking uncontrollably. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "We're all scared, but we have to do it. Ready?"

I nodded and he shadow travelled us straight to the battlefield.

***Somewhere in the Fields of Asphodel***

We found ourselves at the foot of a valley. The battle was everywhere. The once dried ground was now covered in mud and crushed pieces of bone. An Earthborne closed in on us. It was a large creature about ten feet tall with four arms and completely made of mud.

"Dog!" A girl's voice shouted somewhere before we could even react.

"Dog?" I asked Ashton who was also puzzled. A shadow loomed over us and we quickly jumped aside as a ton of dog landed on where we were a second ago crushing the Earthborne beneath it. It was a hellhound. Ashton's hellhound Nightmare. And it looked badly wounded and dirty.

The hellhound whimpered as Ashton knelt to pet its snout. "Hey there old buddy you look hurt. I'll send you back." in a split second, the hellhound disappeared; sent back to the coliseum. Another hellhound was making its way down towards us with Cera riding it. Silver, a giant wolf whose name isn't exactly fitting at the moment since its silver fur is now mushy brown, landed beside us. Cera climbed off. She obviously had been in battle for a while.

"What took you guys so long?" She asked; out of breath. "It's only been half and hour but I don't think we can keep this up any longer. The Underworld's defences were caught completely off-guard. I'm sorry about Nightmare. I just can't take care of two hellhounds at the same time and he got hit by a boulder."

"It's alright. You have my blades?" Cera nodded and tossed him his twin steel blades. The pair he uses when he was training with us.

"Shouldn't you be using that one on your back?" I asked. "I mean, Stygian Iron and everything?"

"I'll just go with this. I don't have to use them…yet" Ashton walked away and attacked the nearest Earthborne; his expression unreadable.

Cera mouthed the words_ I'll explain later_. "Well? How's this for your first action?"

I flicked open Desolator and held on the four feet long sword. Somehow, just holding it calmed me a little. "I guess I have to find out."

Over the next hour, we fought like there's no tomorrow. Well, there won't be for us if we let them win. It was the first time Desolator saw any action and it was doing a mighty fine job at it. The blade felt balanced that wielding it became second nature. With every single Earthborne I kill with it, I felt braver and more confident. I counted my kills in my head. Ninety-four. Not bad. I wonder how everyone else is doing.

I hacked and slashed my way through a dozen of them until I reached one of the larger ones which towered at twenty feet tall. I leapt upwards and slashed at the giant Earthborne straight in the middle; its halves falling to the ground and are nothing more than wet piles of mud. I lowered my sword a little and stopped to catch my breath. I was getting tired but the urge to- to kill more was still growing. A part of me told me not to go too far but a larger part wants me to keep killing until I don't see a single Earthborne; if that's possible.

"Comrade, wetch awt!" A man with a Russian accent shouted behind me followed by a hail of gunfire from a dozen AK-47s. I turned around and saw an Earthborne riddled full of holes crumble to dust before a squad of undead soldiers that I've summoned earlier. The one in front saluted me and went back to battle with his comrades.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Cera and Ashton in a deadly dual hurricane of twin swords and daggers. They were moving with such coordination and grace it's obvious that they fought together a lot of times. Silver would occasionally appear and grab an Earthborne and carry it away to tear to pieces. The whole field was filled with gunfire, explosions, clanging of metal and splatting sounds. Another salvo of green fireballs sailed over my head and made several large fiery craters twenty feet from where I was. The Earthbornes retaliated by throwing thousands of globs of mud towards us. I hid behind the cover of a fallen stalactite as an avalanche of wet mud swept everything around me. The remaining undead army who weren't swept away began to move back to avoid the raining globs of mud.

My gaze went back to the two and I saw Cera leaning against a large boulder breathing heavily with a bloody lip while grasping her arm. Ashton was trying to defend her with everything he can but his blades aren't doing as much damage as ours. I jumped in and helped him fend them off.

"Cera you have to go back! Silver was down, I sent her back for you." Ashton said to her; his voice barely audible from the chaos.

"I…I can't leave you guys here alone." Cera croaked. "I'll be fine. Besides, I've used up a lot of energy I don't think I can shadow travel back for a few minutes."

I sliced an Earthborne's head and it fell sideways but another stepped in its place. I slashed at its arm and made it stagger back. Another one stepped in beside it and punched me in the face sending me back a few feet. I landed beside Ashton who was just finished slicing off an Earthborne's arms and legs.

"You okay?" He asked. I nodded dizzily.

"Ashton, I'll be alright. You and Mark have to push them back!" Cera shouted behind us. She still doesn't have the energy to shadow travel. I can't blame her. She's been here longer than both of us and shadow travelling each time is like running thirty feet at full speed.

"I'm not gonna leave you here like that. I'm sending you back too." Ashton replied. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Before he could do anything more, high-pitched shrieks pierced through the entire battlefield. I looked towards the direction of the shrieks and I saw out there, like an angry dark cloud, was a swarm of winged pale hags with sharp claws and gnashing teeth.

"The Keres." Cera said in disbelief. "So many of them. I always thought they were only like about a dozen or something. Ashton, we have to go back. All of us."

I looked at all the Earthbornes surrounding us. All the undead, including those of the Russian soldiers who saved me earlier were either crushed to pieces or pushed back farther away from us. We were isolated and surrounded by hundreds of Earthbornes. The Keres made their way to the gates and began swooping down on the defenders below.

"I need to give our army a little momentum before we go." Ashton said, out of breath. "Mark, stay with Cera and don't let a single Earthborne near her until she can shadow travel back again. I've got no choice, I have to use it."

"Ashton, are you sure about this?" Cera held his arm obviously worried.

"It's fine." He reassured her. "Just be safe okay?"

Ashton walked towards the crowd of Earthbornes and unlatched his two handed sword. He took a deep breath before impaling it full force into the ground. A small shockwave sent the surrounding Earthbornes a few steps back. As I looked into the sword, it wasn't a sword any longer but more like swords. It apparently split into two identical blades. He picked them up, stared at the hundreds of Earhtbornes and assumed his fighting stance before saying, "Well? Come and get it…"

**(A/N: **Who knew this chap would turn out into a full-scale war? I didn't at first either but I got it all covered. I decided to cut this into two since the second part is still in a kind of blur but I'll find a way to sort it out. Anyways, read and review. Next chap is entitled "Twins" and would be up soon and as said on the title, well...it's about twins but twin what? You guys have to find out. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	11. XI

**(A/N: **Thanks again to Em for reviewing and to all those who read. Close to 1,500 hits now. Keep 'em coming guys! Here's part two. Read on…**)**

**Chapter Eleven: Twins**

"Well? Come and get it…"

All at once, the Earthbornes charged. Ashton stood calmly with his swords raised. He simply sidestepped on the first Earthborne and sliced it across the chest. What's strange is the blade didn't even leave a mark. It made it look like he missed it completely. What happened next was even stranger. The creature grasped its chest, fell over and began to trash madly on the ground. The Earthbornes simply stood there and watched their brother slowly, very slowly dissolve into nothing bit by bit while writhing in absolute pain.

"Ulltimo agone…" Cera whispered. "The ultimate agony…"

Ashton took another deep breath and lunged at the nearest Earthborne who just stood there and watched as the blade easily went through its thick body like it was made of thin air. As he pulled the blade away, the creature this time grabbed the sides of its head and collapsed; trembling violently. What happened next was the same as earlier; slowly dissolving bit by bit while suffering all the while.

"Ultima timor…" Cera continued. "The ultimate fear. With Fear on the left and Agony on the right, one could break anyone's soul but that someone could not use their power without him knowing what they truly felt. That's why he never wanted to use it but he was chosen to do so."

"Chosen?" I asked as I watched him battle three dozen Earthbornes at once who were at first very reluctant to attack. On the ground were several of those who were writhing in either extreme fear or pain or maybe both while slowly dissolving. Just by looking at them sent shivers down my spine. I can barely imagine those blades cutting through a human being but I have a strong feeling it already had. The undead army, with their moral boosted upon seeing him, let out a battle cry and charged to help him out.

"Yes. Chosen." Cera continued. "He and dad said so themselves. They wouldn't tell me why though but if you're gonna ask me, I would prefer it to be used by nobody. It's just that the user also suffers. I can clearly see it and I can't stand seeing him like that."

Ashton materialized in front of us. He stuck his swords on the ground and used them for support. He had a wild look in his eyes and he sounded pretty shaken when he spoke. "A-are you guys okay? You guys go on ahead. I'll have to push them back as much as I can."

"Are you nuts!" Cera blurted. "You look like you'll black out any second!"

An Earthborne burst through the chaos and charged at us. I flicked open Desolator and sliced its head off. Ashton stood up shakily and Cera helped him up. "Hey listen," He told her. "I've got to use them as much as I can and as long as I can. Go get yourself some ambrosia and nectar then come back here and take over. Okay?"

Cera shook her head slowly. "You're an idiot. A dumb, stupid, crazy idiot…"

Ashton just gave her a silly grin. "Yep. That's me. Go on ahead. I'll make sure there's still some left for you guys to take care of."

Cera sighed and tapped his cheek. "Don't overdo yourself. We'll be right back as soon as we can. C'mon Mark."

I looked behind me before I shadow traveled away. The undead army was doing well pushing the Earthbornes back and most of them were already on the run. We just might have a chance at this.

***xvx***

Most of us were already at the coliseum save for Liz, Brandon, Haley and Ashton. The coliseum had dramatically changed while we were gone. Several large green tents were perched up. An endless line of undead warriors were lining up on several of them where ghouls would hand over different kinds of weapons before marching straight to the battlefield. Rick and Michael came in a few seconds after us with Michael immediately being put in a stretcher.

"Knocked some teeth out of me. Who knew they could punch that hard!" He babbled. "Hey Mark, hey Cera, looking good…"

Cera and I watched as he was carried off by a pair of medic ghouls. He obviously won't be in action for a while. Rick limped towards us still wearing his signature grin though he looked pretty busted up himself; his curly hair all messed up. "Hey guys. You made it. We both came back since The Fields of Punishment are all under control."

An undead clinical nurse walked towards us with a tray of nectar boxes. We each took one gratefully.

Rick continued his story between sips. "They kept on coming *slurp* and coming but then they all stopped and scurried back to their *slurp* hole. Guess they got the message not to *slurp* mess with us."

"You mean you didn't push them back?" I asked.

"Well, I did some of the *slurp* work with this baby here of course." He threw away the empty juice box and unsheathed his sword halfway; a four foot long Stygian Iron blade with strange silver markings. The moment I looked at it, I felt shivers run down my spine as if it radiated an aura of fear. I swallowed and tried my best not to whimper. "But yeah, they sort of ran off."

"Rick, put away Metus. We're talking here!" Cera snapped though I could notice her voice was slightly shaking. She was sitting on a wooden stool as a medic ghoul came over and fixed her arm.

"Sorry." He sheathed his sword though he really didn't look that sorry. There was a sudden _woosh_ sound and Haley appeared a few meters away. She ran up to us.

"Hey guys. I'm back!" She was out of breath but she looked better than any of us. "I sent back Ryan and Kim earlier. Not much to do back there anyway. Even dad's Vanguard barely did anything. The Earthbornes just ran off after a little fight even though they still outnumber us three to one. I saw the Keres. They only seem to concentrate on the Gates."

"Wait." Cera cut in. "I have a feeling they didn't really retreat because of us."

Just then, Kim ran out of one of the largest tents were a couple of suits of armor were displayed on both sides of the entrance. She was out of breath when she spoke. "Rowena's calling everyone in. She said that something bad is coming. Very bad. And it's almost here."

We all rushed to her tent. Cera didn't wait for the medic ghoul to finish and she arrived at the tent with her fixing the bandages on her own. Not that she mind. Ryan was already sitting on the floor mat and we joined him.

Rowena was sitting in the middle. On the far corner were about a dozen of bowls filled with her blood along with empty boxes of nectar. She looked really pale and her life force was almost non-existent. When she spoke, her voice was shallow and her eyes were in a daze. "I-I summoned Charles Martell and his army to reinforce the Gates… Brandon and Liz should be back here in a minute. As…for…As for Ashton, he's pushing himself to the limit and he's almost at the pit. He-he has to go back. One more thing…"

She coughed violently and almost collapsed if Rick and Haley hadn't caught her.

"Shouldn't you rest for a while?" I said worriedly. I glanced at my siblings and their faces were all grim.

"If she does that, three-fourths of the undead army you see out there would be gone and we'll be overrun." Cera explained.

I glanced at Rowena in awe and in pity. She's behind most of the undead warriors who fought with us? I guess it's part of being an Ultimate Medium but the price she pays for doing it…

"As…I was saying…" She winced and coughed again; her lips tinged with blood. "It's almost here…It's-"

A loud rumble shook everything. Rowena's eyes widened into that of shock. "It's here. No wait… They're here…"

"Wait. What about Ashton?" Cera sprung up. "You said he's near the pit! He-"

She was cut off by a pair of laughter bellowed somewhere faraway but we all heard it loud and clear from here. Before she could continue, a huge explosion rocked the Underworld. It reminded me of a movie. Was it Terminator or something? The explosion was quite similar to that and I remember Rick telling me what kind of explosion it was: a nuclear explosion.

All of us, except for Rowena and Haley, ran out of the tent and saw a huge mushroom cloud from where the pit was. In the next split-second, the shockwave hit the coliseum and we were all thrown aback.

"Keep your head down!" Cera shouted amid the thick storm of dust and flying rubble of all shapes and sizes. I even recalled seeing a tank being carried off or maybe it was only my imagination.

"It'll be a while before I can watch Terminator Salvation again." Rick whimpered beside me.

And then, just as fast as it came, it was over. If it weren't for the coliseum's walls, we would have been blown away for sure. The tents didn't survive though and were probably swept hundreds of miles away. Strangely enough, the suits of armor though were still standing where they were earlier and Rowena and Haley were lying flat behind one. The area surrounding us was dead silent though we can still here explosions by the Gates.

I stood up shakily along with the others. Cera on the other hand just sat there motionless; her expression was that of pure shock. "I-I can't feel him…" She whispered; trembling a little. "He's… gone…"

I didn't understand what she meant at first but then it hit me. I couldn't sense Ashton's life force anywhere. Being a child of Pluto, we can all sense each other's life force miles away though Cera told me that we can hide it if we wanted to. I searched for Brandon and Liz and luckily, I found them somewhere near the Gates. They disappeared for a second and now they're on the coliseum. Brandon was right next to me. Rick and I caught him before he hit the ground. He looked totally beat up with several cuts in different parts of his body probably from fighting the Keres.

"Hey." He greeted us. He looked close to passing out. "We decided to drop in. Look who we found on the way back. He doesn't look good though."

I looked over where Liz was. She was down on one knee and lying beside her was Ashton. The remaining medic ghouls rushed into the scene. We handed Brandon over to them. Cera spun around with a look of disbelief and that of relief as well as she ran to where Ashton was. We followed her. Liz was carried away as well. Just like Brandon, she was just as badly beat up but it still wasn't anywhere near Ashton's state.

We surrounded him. His eyes were staring dully staring at the ceiling. He had a nasty cut on the side of his head and several more on his body. His shirt was all tattered up revealing some of his grotesque wounds. His breathing was shallow; a pool of blood was forming on where he lay. His life force was still present though very, very faint. He wasn't just wounded. He's dying…

"ROWENA!" Cera called out. Rowena came as fast as she could manage. "Please. It isn't too late yet, right?"

"It would be risky but if it's to save our brother, I'll do it." Rowena said; determined. She placed her hand on his forehead and frowned. "I'll need more spiritual energy. Show me your weapons. All of you."

Everyone was puzzled but we did it nonetheless. I flicked open Desolator. Rick unsheathed Metus. Kim and Cera pulled out their daggers. Haley and Ryan drew their swords. Everyone except Rick and Rowena shifted uncomfortably when Metus was drawn. I took a closer look at their weapons and I noticed that they were somehow translucent. They weren't pure black anymore unlike Desolator which didn't seem to change at all.

"Stygian Iron is known to absorb the essences of any living thing it touches." Rowena explained as she prepared Ashton's body for the ritual. "The more essence it absorbs, the more powerful it becomes. Absorb too much though, and it will break and release all its stored energy at once. I'll use the essences your weapons have gathered to temporarily bind his soul to his mortal body."

"Temporarily?" Cera cut in. "You mean, you can only make him stay alive for a short time!"

Rowena nodded. "I'll try to prolong the bonds as much as I can. His body must be ready to accept his soul by then or else he would die that's why he would need all the healing he can get before the bonds expire."

"Well…I guess we should give it a shot." Haley raised her sword. We all followed soon afterwards. Rowena began to chant in an unknown language with one hand raised and the other still on Ashton's forehead. The words didn't sound like Latin or Greek or any other language I've heard of. It's probably something more ancient.

I felt vibrations coursing through Desolator which began to emit white wispy smoke like the other weapons. The smoke rose to the air and collected into Rowena's palm until she's holding a white ball the size of a basketball. She continued chanting as she placed that hand on Ashton's forehead as well and the smoke dissipated. Their weapons returned to their natural color. An explosion shook the ground. It was followed by the same pair bellowing laughter all coming from the direction of the gates. We almost forgot about our new visitors.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Ashton took in a deep breath and sank back. His eyes fluttered open and glanced around as if wondering where he is. His life force flickered on and is now a little below normal.

"You idiot!" Cera exhaled in relief almost close to tears. "You went too far. Look what happened!"

Kim, Ryan and Haley joined in; both teary eyed. Rick and I stood back. I inched a little farther since he hasn't put away Metus yet.

"Too stupid…" Ashton's voice was tight. He was obviously in pain but he still tried to smile. "Should've seen that one coming…tried to move away…too late…"

Rowena sat back panting. "I-I've just lost control of five hundred undead soldiers just by doing that. The bonds will only last for half an hour unless I can get a hold of more essences. Earthbornes don't really possess that much essence in them. I've managed to use up three thousand of them only to extend his life for thirty minutes."

I noticed Ashton's blades which just lay on his sides. "What about these ones? They might have absorbed some."

"Mark, NO!" Cera tried to stop me but it was too late. I grasped the handle and the moment I did so, pain exploded from inside me. My arm felt like it had been injected by molten metal. My skin felt like it was peeling off. My muscles felt like they were melting slowly. I managed to let go of the blade and I collapsed on the ground. All the pain went away the moment I let go of the blade.

Rick came up and held out his hand. I took it. "Guess that makes the two of us. I picked the Fear one though. One of the reasons why I'm not afraid of Metus' powers anymore. I've seen and felt something way stronger than it."

"Multiply that a hundred times and you'll know what those Earthbornes back there felt." Ashton said in a raspy voice. Does he feel the same way when he wields these blades?

"Uh guys?" Haley was by the stands staring at the direction of the Gates. "Who and what are those two?"

I glanced at the Gates and saw two large identical humanoid figures amongst a thousand Earthbornes. They stood nearly forty-feet tall with dark green scaly legs and a serpent's tail. Their torsos were sky-blue in color covered in strange tattoos. Their faces were human; bald and had long gray beards. Both were wielding huge clubs almost the size of the stalactites that hung on the ceiling. They, along with their army of Earthbornes and the horde of Keres were all laying siege on the Gates; destroying the remaining defenders in it.

"I should've expected this." Rowena said grimly as she stared into the chaos and destruction out there. "Earthbornes were children of Gaea…and so are the Giants."

"So that's a Giant." Rick nodded. "Gigantic…"

"Otus and Ephialtes." Rowena continued. "The giants that stacked three mountains atop the other so they can reach Olympus to take Artemis and Hera as their wives. Artemis killed them. Or to be exact, made them kill each other."

"Rowena can I ask you something?" Cera stood up. I can imagine the gears turning in her head. "Will it be enough if we supply you with two Giant essences?"

Rowena's face lit up in realization. "It might not just extend the effect of the bonds; it can speed up his healing!"

Cera nodded and knelt beside Ashton. "We'll be back soon. Just hang tight, okay? AND DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE STUPID! Got it!"

"Alright, alright. Sheesh." Ashton rolled his eyes. "As if I can do anything stupid at this state."

Cera sighed, leaned and kissed him on the cheek. She then stood up and faced us with her face slightly red. "Alright. Get yourselves some nectar and ambrosia. Fix any minor injuries and stuff like that. Rowena, keep us updated about his condition. We'll be back in fifteen minutes." She drew out her daggers; her dark green eyes blazing with determination. "We got a pair of twins to absorb."

**(A/N: **And done! The second part of the war is over and the next chapter would be its conclusion (way far from the conclusion of this story though). A little hint for the next chapter: I'll be using one of the deceased canon characters from the first series (the PJO). It will only be a cameo appearance but he/she would be responsible to end this little war we have here (it's still little compared to what I have in store! *laughs evilly*). You guys are welcome to guess. It will be in another week or so before I update and I've decided to add some spice to this. You're free to guess which one is it and if you guessed correctly, you get a chance to have the character you created to be one of the two remaining children of Pluto whom I haven't introduced yet. (Remember the first chapter? There were twelve of them that time minus Rowena). Only one guess is allowed and must be coming from an official account. (Anonymous suggestions will be ruled out to avoid cheating and such)One more thing, it's quite obvious that I made up a lot of stuff regarding their powers (especially Rowena's) and also the nature of Stygian Iron. I hope it's alright and not overrated and such. If you have any reactions and suggestions or if you want to point out errors and stuff, I'll be happy to know about it. There's always the "Review this chapter" link at the bottom and it's open for everyone. That'll be all for now. It's the longest author's note in this Raven's history. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	12. XII

**(A/N:** Hey guys! It's been more than a week but I managed to pull one off. Thanks again to the one and only Em who was the only one who reviewed (as of 11/20/11). It was much appreciated. Anyways, I've mentioned that a deceased someone from the original PJO series would make a cameo appearance on this chapter. Who might that be? You guys will soon find out! Here we go…**)**

**Chapter Twelve: Victory and Loss**

***xvx***

A few minutes earlier…

Pluto marched into the throne room. Everyone was sitting in their respective places and was temporarily relieved of their present duties; something that only happens when an emergency council meeting such as this is being held. The throne room was filled with tension. The Olympian sat on their thrones tensed and restless. A two-tiered white marble fountain stood in the middle. The water's surface was so still it looked more like a mirror which reflected the light from the setting sun filtering through the room's enormous open windows.

Pluto bowed before the council. "Pardon me for the short notice but the situation is dire and I need your immediate assistance."

"This better be relevant, brother. The battle with the giants has broken through the surface of Greece. We could hardly aid our children in battle." Jupiter spoke sternly. "And this is not the time for us to be stalled or distracted by small or insignificant matters which can be taken cared of without any of us being involved."

"I assure you, brother. This is nothing close to being insignificant." Pluto spoke in a shallow tone. He looked paler than usual; if that's possible. The ongoing siege on the Underworld has greatly affected him. He then held out his hand towards the fountain. "Iris, show us my realm!"

The water gurgled and mist rose into the air. The sounds of battle emanated through the throne room. The mist then revealed a view of the Underworld being overrun by thousands of Earthbornes. A second later, a horde of Keres swarmed the Gates. Everyone on the throne room watched with different expressions. Jupiter, Minerva, Diana, Mercury and Neptune all watched silently. Mars seem to enjoy the view of the carnage. Bacchus looked uninterested and was absent-mindedly growing tiny vines on his throne's armrests. Apollo simply lounged on his throne as it were a movie he had already seen.

"My kingdom as you can see is under attack. The Giants are obviously behind this and are up to something we are yet to know. In fact I can sense them coming right this moment." Pluto continued. "I do not doubt what my children and my servants are capable of but when it comes to the Giants, the odds are against us!"

"Our children, especially my Jason Grace and brother Neptune's son Percy Jackson, had been handling Giants quite well even with only a handful of demigods to assist them and you cannot even accomplish the same with your massive army and your 'elite' Legion comprised of your own children?"Jupiter sat back. His eyebrow was raised as if in doubt. "Are you sure you can't handle this on your own, brother? You've always bragged about the strength of your Black Legion, your Vanguard, your Furies and the rest of your Army. Have they grown that weak these past centuries that they no longer have the same capability of defending your Kingdom?

'_This past century' is more like it_. Pluto thought but he didn't dare say it aloud. He was here to seek their help, not blame them or and argue about what had happened in the last century even though a large part of him wanted to do so. "Fighting Giants in the surface is very much different than fighting them in the Underworld. Down there, they are closer to Gaea and thus, she is able to grant them power far greater than what she can deliver from the surface. In addition, majority of the creatures like the Keres you see here have revolted against me and now owe allegiance to her."

A beep was heard and Mercury bowed in apology. He fished out something from his pocket; a mobile phone. He listened intently to someone on the other line and nodded. He ended the call and cleared his throat. "I-I'm sorry to interrupt. Enceladus has reappeared once again. This time he was spotted reforming near the Parthenon along with hundreds of Earthbornes. As for the other news…It has broken free from its bonds… The Kraken has been unleashed and Keto is close to freeing itself as well."

Neptune and Minerva began to stand up but Jupiter held up his hand. "As you can see, brother. We have _more_ important matters to attend to. We all know what lies beneath the Parthenon and we must protect it at all costs. The Kraken and Keto, without Medusa's head, would be nearly invincible and must be taken down with full force. I'm very sorry brother but you are on your own."

"And the Underworld? Are you saying it is less important? All I am asking is for you, Neptune and me to perform the Ritual of Sealing to seal this makeshift passage from Tartarus." Pluto's voice was getting agitated. "Do you have the slightest idea of what will befall on us once my kingdom has fallen?"

"We are all aware of that. But the battle is in Greece." Jupiter replied; unfazed by Pluto's reaction. "Chances are that Gaea will only use the siege on the Underworld as a diversion. That ritual siphons too much energy from us and we won't have the strength to help our own children. No, we cannot take that risk. Our children need us. We cannot betray them again."

"And you will do that by abandoning me and my children?" Pluto said in a low voice; almost a growl. "I abandoned my kingdom to come to your aid in the Titan War! I lost one of my children to one of your quests! All I am asking is a little aid from you in return now that I am the one under siege. Please, brother. Even if I do manage to contain this situation, it will only be a matter of time before she strikes again! I couldn't bear to lose that much. Not anymore!"

Jupiter stood up; obviously infuriated. "Are you implying that we Olympians owe you a debt for all that you've done? Remember brother, I haven't forgotten what your children did. And I have never forgiven them still! As for your pleas, you know very well of the alternative. It's just one soul. You have dozens at your disposal. Perhaps I should prepare a fresh one for you right now…"

Jupiter held out his hand and the master bolt flew into his grasp. The cylinder crackled with energy and the air was filled with the smell of ozone. The fountain in the middle disappeared and a huge gaping crack cleaved the middle of the throne room revealing the bird's eye view of the city of Los Angeles. Olympus can be temporarily moved to any location the gods prefer.

"What are you planning to do, brother?" Pluto felt his blood run cold when he saw Jupiter's expression. He knew very well of the alternative and it was one of those few things he dreaded the most. He can't bear to lose another one of them; just like back then…

"Granting you the aid you deserve…" Jupiter aimed the master bolt straight into the city. Before Pluto could stop him, a large wave of energy burst from the master bolt's tip into the city. The massive wave of energy went straight through the ground and nothing happened at first. A second later, a high magnitude earthquake shook the whole city; toppling small buildings and creating huge gaping cracks on the ground. Pluto knew that the Jupiter wasn't aiming for the city itself. He was aiming for something under it; the Underworld. He just blasted the Underworld. Pluto sensed one of his son's life force slowly fading away.

"No…no…NO!" Pluto exploded. Black energy began to cloak him but he stopped. All the Olympians were bracing themselves; expecting him to attack. He powered down and spoke venomously. "So this is what I get eh? So be it, but mark my words…MARK MY WORDS! Yes, Gaea will rise and the Underworld would be the first one to fall. I want all of you to know that we are not just protecting ourselves, we are protecting you all as well and all I asked is your help. All you can give me is this? Once Gaea has taken the Underworld, her army will never die, she will have dominion over the dead, and she will command the most formidable force ever known. It will be then… it will only be then… that you will all realize that you should've have done something when you had the chance. Regret. That is all you will feel as you succumb before her. Soon. Very soon."

Pluto spun around and shadow traveled away a few seconds later without another word. The Olympians flashed him cold stares but he didn't care. They then began discussing about how they can protect the Parthenon as if he hadn't been there a few seconds ago. He had no choice. He was on his own but he cannot abandon his realm and his children. He was also aware of what he was about to do; something he had dreaded all this time he had been the Lord of the Dead. _I'm sorry. _Pluto muttered under his breath. Her young cheerful face flashed in his mind. _It's your time.  
><em> 

***xvx***

Meanwhile…

All hell broke loose once we all shadow travelled in the middle of the invading army and annihilated every single monster we found. There were only six of us in fighting condition. There would've been five if Michael hadn't joined us though he doesn't look fully recovered enough with his freshly wrapped bandages and patched wounds but we need all the help we can get. Speaking of help, where is father anyway?

"Incoming! Spread out!" Cera called out and we did as told. A huge club the size of a six storey building landed where we all were a second ago. So far, the giants are distracted but we weren't getting any closer to killing them. We would attack them from several directions at once, absorb a little essence and back away then do it all over again. Their huge size worked to our advantage. Cerberus on the other hand growled and barked from the other side of the Gate far away.

"Mark, we're going after Otus. Rick, create a distraction while Mark and I make our approach." Cera ordered once we regrouped. "Haley, Michael, Kim, and Ryan, try to distract Ephialtes so he won't be able to help his brother. Try to absorb as much essence as you can. Once your blades becomes close to transparent, shadow travel to Rowena so she can extract the essence from it. Do not and I say DO NOT try to see how much your blades can take. Stay sharp and watch each other's backs. Let's go!"

We all nodded. I couldn't help but notice how similar she and Ashton took charge of the group. Rick and I followed her to the Gates while the others shadow traveled to their positions. A bunch of Earthbornes and Keres got in our way but were all annihilated when five tall undead soldiers each wielding miniguns stepped into the scene courtesy of Rick; providing us with a healthy dose of firepower. There weren't that many Earthbornes and Keres after the explosion but there are still plenty of them left.

"I'm keeping you guys." Rick told them. They saluted in return and continued to cover us with overwhelming firepower as we moved along summoning undead as we go to help retake the Gates.

We made our way to the entrance. The EZ Death line was filled with dozens of dead security ghouls, panicking souls (as if they would get harmed in any way), shattered undead, and vaporized Earthbornes and Keres. The outposts and catapults were all smashed and we could only see a few undead still locked in battle with the Earthbornes. Some Keres would occasionally swoop down and snatch an unlucky undead soldier away to be taken who knows where. We could hear Cerberus' agitated barks a little louder now.

"Found you!" The Otus leapt from the top of the black metal walls of Erebus and landed behind us. The ground shook and we were thrown off our feet.

"Now Rick!" Cera shouted. Rick shadow travelled right in front of the giant's face and stabbed him on the nose.

"Hey, looky here!" Rick shouted. The Giants eyes widened when he saw the blade.

"Bah!" Otus stumbled and fell back, his body slamming into the black walls making it shudder. He slapped his face but Rick was already gone and he ended up hitting himself which angered him even more. "Foolish child of Pluto! Fear won't hold me back forever!"

Rick appeared in front of his face again and stabbed him on the bridge of his nose. "Oh, looky here again!"

"Aaaaarrrggghhh! Get away!" He tried to stand. Cera gave the signal and we both shadow travelled on his shoulders. I flicked open Desolator and plunged my blade in his neck. Desolator sank to the hilt and it began drinking its essence greedily. Cera did the same with one of her daggers and the creature cried out in pain as we absorbed him. The Keres rushed to help out the Giant and Cera fended them off with her other dagger.

Otus fell to his knees; obviously starting to weaken. "Mother, help me!" He called out. The ground shook and mud rose up to his waist. I felt his life force began to regenerate at a fast rate. He let out a bellowing laugh. He stood up and slapped his face again. This time Rick wasn't fast enough and he got hit by the Giant's index finger which was probably like getting hit with a van; his unconscious body free-fell to the ground forty feet below along with his sword Metus.

I was about to rush out to help him but when I tried to pull out Desolator, it was stuck. "C'mon!" I yelled in frustration; trying to yank the stupid blade off. It seemed to attach itself even more; feeding on the essence greedily. I can feel it. It wants to feed more.

Cera seeing my predicament went after Rick herself, pulling off her other dagger which was now almost transparent with barely a shade of black in it. "Mark, get out of there!" She shouted as she was falling. She caught Rick by the arm but the Giant grabbed her and she cried out in pain.

"Ooohhh…You are beautiful for a daughter of Pluto…" The Giant mused as he studied her agonized face. "I shall dispose of your brothers and take you as my wife! I do not mind a demigod wife. It might be even better than that trickster Goddess of the Hunt. Bah!"

"Nu uh. So not happening!" She spat; still holding Rick by the arm while he was dangling lifelessly. She placed one of her daggers on Rick's belt and sent him back to the coliseum. The color drained from her face. She has used up a lot of energy but she managed to stab the Giant on the thumb which only angered him.

"You are MINE!" Otus tightened his grip on her and she looked like close to passing out. I was literally cursing Desolator right now. I can feel its hunger and greed to drink out Otus' essence. I yanked it off harder. Otus tried to grab me. I talked to Desolator in my mind. _I'm your Master! Try being useful for once!_

Just then, I felt a surge run through me as if my sword was letting off some kind of aura. Desolator easily slid off unchanged; still black as nightmare. I felt a strange feeling just by holding it. Otus' hand was a meter away when I slashed at it. The blade went through easily I first thought I missed but then, half of his hand fell off and he cried out. I jumped across from his shoulder to his other hand and slashed his wrist. His other hand fell off along with the half-conscious Cera. It was amazing! Desolator cut through him like he was made of nothing at all. I carefully cut the fingers away, all this time while falling; the ground zooming in below me.

Thirty feet. I grabbed Cera by the waist and then that's when it hit me. I still can't shadow travel others yet!

Twenty feet. Shoot! I should've thought about that! I have to try! I closed my eyes and concentrated on creating a pathway. I visualized the coliseum; the wind roared in my ears along with Otus' cries of agony.

Ten feet. C'mon! C'mon! I visualized Cera and me going through the pathway.

_BOOM!_

Everything was dark for a second. I thought I was dead; unable to save myself and my sister.

"Mark! Cera! Are you two okay?" It was Haley's voice. Wait.

My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on the cold ground. Cera was on top of me and she was just beginning to regain consciousness as well.

"Congratulations…" Cera gently pulled away from me with a groan; grasping her sides. She was obviously in great pain. "You shadow travelled us both safely and you did it without me teaching you how."

"Thanks…Just got lucky…I guess…" I replied; out of breath. It drained my energy five times more than when I shadow travel alone. I realized that we were by the EZ Death line again. Not exactly where I wanted to be but I'm glad we're still safe. The undead we've summoned have secured the area and are now fending off the new wave of attackers. When will this end?

Haley came over to us. She had a bloody lip and a bruised forehead but she looked fine. "Are you two okay? Kim was down. She can't go back on her own and I can't-"

She was beginning to panic but Cera placed a hand on her shoulder. "I got it. Show me where she is, I'll send her back. How ab-" She coughed out some blood and grasped her sides. Something was definitely broken in there. "How about Michael and Ryan?"

"Well, they are both doing fine but the Giant keeps healing himself. We're near Cerberus' area now. He might be a big help but I can't set him free. I tried breaking the chains but I couldn't." She glanced at her nervously. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Do I look like I'm not okay to you?" Cera asked; irritated. She then sighed realizing that it was a pretty stupid question just by looking at her state. "Sorry. I-I'll be fine. Show me where she is. I'll take her back with me. Mark, Otus will try to help his brother. Together, it would be almost impossible to beat them but I think Cerberus can even the odds a bit. Yes. I think he could but to get them there…"

Cera paused for a few seconds; deep in thought. She then looked like she's somewhere between lighting up for finding a solution and going to be sick for some reason. Really confusing, I know.

"Keep them busy. I'll be right back…" Cera groaned and walked away as Haley showed her where Kim was. I decided to help out Michael and Ryan.

I shadow travelled behind a huge boulder by the foot of a valley outside Erebus where Ryan and Michael were. They were out of breath and had a wild look on their eyes. A few hundred meters away, Ephialtes was searching for us, his club on the ready and he looked really mad.

'''This is ridiculous! He won't die!"' Ryan complained. '''Hi Mark, where's Cera?"'

"She's on her way and she has a plan. All we have to do is keep them busy for a while longer." I told them.

Michael sighed. "Well we've been doing it all this time and I'm kind of getting tired of it. Literally."

"Well, let's get it done…" I felt a little confident ever since I saw what Desolator did to Otus. I flicked it open but what's strange is it didn't let out that kind of aura anymore. It seemed to have burned out. I guess I have to charge it up again.

"Cowards! Show yourselves!" Ephialtes called out. He struck the walls of Erebus with his club with a loud _DING!_

"There they are, my lord!" A shrill voice screeched somewhere above us. We looked up and saw about a dozen Keres swooping in on our direction.

"Very well!" Ephialtes struck his club to the valley. There was a loud rumble as the entire top half of the mountains collapsed; creating a gigantic rockslide crashing down on us.

"Move!" Michael and I shouted in unison. I tried to shadow travel but the noise and the fear I felt made me unable to. I saw Michael and Ryan were feeling the same and that's when we ran for it.

The next thing that happened was all a blur. My world spun as the rockslide carried me away. After about a minute,, it stopped and everything was still. I felt cramped and unable to move and breathe. I realized that I was buried alive.

"You think I wouldn't find you eh?" The Giant let out a bellowing laugh. "Farewell, sons of Pluto! Not even a god can match our power down here in the Underworld! Now back to the task at hand…"

With much effort, I burst through the pile of dirt and rocks. Ephialtis had rejoined Otus who had regenerated and were now trying to close the Gates which wouldn't budge. Michael was leaning on one of the larger rock just as battered and bruised as I am but he looked worse since his bandages began to bleed again. His wounds have reopened. I looked around and Ryan was nowhere to be found. I began digging everywhere. I found him a minute later. He was alive, somehow.

'''Thank you.''' He said. I helped him up but he fell down again. His ankle was broken.

Haley appeared behind me. "Kim is okay. Cera took her back. I saw what happened. You guys alright?"

"Ryan broke his ankle. I don't think he can fight and Michael isn't any better." I said. "We can't keep this up!"

Haley let out an exasperated sigh. "This is so hopeless! Cera's the only regular around and she's barely walking. You and I are the only ones left to help her now!"

Cera joined us. She had both her daggers now and she looked slightly better; somehow. "Ryan, stay here and take care of Michael. The two of you, come with me. Let's see if this works…"

We all shadow travelled where Cerberus was. The three-headed Rottweiler was really agitated and kept on tugging at his chains.

"He has the ability to merge himself with the shadows so he can catch trespassers unaware. We'll use that to our advantage." Cera explained though I noticed that her face was all red and she sounded nervous. "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Haley and I exchange puzzled looks. "You two," Cera called to us. "Stay hidden and wait for my signal. Once Otus comes in, we absorb his essence as quick as possible before his brother can help out." She then faced Cerberus. "Okay boy, I want you to stay quiet for me and stay hidden too. Understand?"

Cerberus seemed to understand and he quieted down. "Now hide yourself." Cera ordered. Cerberus lay down on the ground. I still wasn't convinced about this plan. With Cerberus 'hiding' and all. Who wouldn't notice a dog that big?

All of a sudden, he turned invisible. Well, not entirely invisible, it's more like he blended with the shadows. Now that's impressive.

Otus emerged from the leapt over the walls seething with rage; obviously looking for us while his brother focused on closing the Gates a little farther away. It gave a loud groaning sound and moved a couple of feet under his efforts. Cera took a deep breath and did something I'd never thought she'd ever say. She shouted at the top of her voice; Cerberus was lying quietly behind her covered in shadows. "Hey Otus, remember me? Is it too late to be your wife?"

"Ahh! The pretty daughter of Pluto. Had a change of heart?" Otus walked over to her. "There is nothing for you here in the Underworld. Once the Giants have risen, you shall rule by my side as my queen!"

"I realized that. I'll be more than happy to be your _awful wedded wife_!" She replied in a sweet and teasing tone with a naughty smile though she looked like she's about ready to throw up as she spat the last three words. "Come here big boy!"

Otus quickened his pace and stopped in front of her. His towering figure knelt down and held out his hand for her to climb on. "I shall take you now and bear me many sons and daughters! You shall live forever in return!"

"This is getting disgusting by the minute." Cera muttered. "Alright, enough of that garbage!"

"Garbage?" Otus looked at her; confused. Cera had a sinister smile on her lips. "Game's over, boy! Cerberus, seek 'im!"

_ROOF!(3x) GRRRR!(3x)_

Cerberus lunged from the shadows (literally) and his three heads snapped on the Giant. Otus cried in pain as huge three-headed Rottweiler tore at him.

"Mother, help me!" Otus cried out.

"Cerberus, lift him up!" Cera commanded. Ephialtis saw what just happened and charged in to help out his brother. Cerberus lifted Otus up and slammed him on top of the gates which had razor sharp fences that pierced through the Giant's skin and held him suspended from the ground as Cerberus continued his attack. The mud kept on rising but can't seem to reach Otus. He began to bleed golden blood. "Guys, now!"

We charged and stabbed him with our weapons. Desolator sank in again and eagerly drank the Giant's essence. Otus continued to cry out. "Noooo! Brother!"

"I am coming Otus!" Ephialtis continued charging. He was almost here and Otus is still far from being dead.

"He's too tough!" Haley shouted. "We won't be able to absorb him before he comes!"

Ephialtes was barely four hundred meters away and is fast approaching; covering about fifty feet per step. He was on swinging range of his club when he was blasted away.

Ephialtes slammed on the walls as another wave of black energy hit him square on the chest. We turned to see father floating a hundred feet in the air glowing with dark energy. He finally came…

"Fall, you scum!" Pluto spat as he blasted the Giant again with another wave of dark energy about three times stronger than the previous one which sent Ephialtes literally flying a hundred feet over the walls and back inside the Fields of Asphodel.

Otus began to gradually dissolve. Haley and Cera pulled their weapons away and they were nearly transparent. They then shadow traveled away to the coliseum. Desolator on the other hand, kept on drinking while Cerberus ripped out what remained of the Giant. Father hovered towards the Giant and kept blasting him over and over.

Otus finally dissolved into nothing and I raised Desolator. It felt even stronger now. So much stronger. My thoughts then drifted on the third blade which was stuck for some reason. I changed it back to Swiss knife mode and tried to flick open the third one. It didn't flick open but it was a little loose now. I guess it needs more essence. I now stood and watched how father is taking care of things. He seemed to be blasting the Giant towards the hole.

"Mother, help me!" The Giant cried just as the Giant was about to fall into the hole and the earth responded. Mud rose up but this time it covered his entire body including his head. The mud then hardened and formed some kind of armor made of dark colored stone which father cannot seem to destroy with his powers.

Father saw that his energy blasts were useless and he drew his sword and engaged the Giant in close combat.

Father got to work and started hacking on the Giant's armor but it was just too thick and he could barely damage it. I held Desolator and felt the massive energy stored in it. I looked up at father as if asking permission and he nodded. That's all I need to know.

I shadow travelled a few feet on top the Giant's head. I let out a cry as I fell and stabbed Desolator right in the middle of the Giant's forehead at the same time father blasted him on the chest at full power. All the energy stored inside was suddenly released into one small-scale supernova. A shockwave swept through the Underworld once more but nowhere near to what happened earlier but still powerful enough to knock the giant back inside the hole and eradicate any monsters nearby. I free-fell but a rough bony hand caught me by the arm and gently lay me on the ground. My vision was spinning and my ears were still ringing. Everything was a blur and I can barely process anything.

"My dear child, it's time…" Pluto said; standing beside me. Time for what?

"I'm ready." A girl's voice somewhere over my head. "Don't tell Nico. He wouldn't understand."

"Hush, he might still hear you and yes I will not." Pluto replied. A bright bluish figure walked in a liquid-like motion beside me and floated on top of the hole. She looked like a young girl no older than I was but definitely younger wearing a familiar silver outfit. Where have I seen one of those before? I don't remember.

"I, Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades," The spirit announced. "Offers my soul, accepts the duty, and fulfills the oath. For the sake of the Underworld and the world above!"

She then began chanting something in a foreign or ancient language as everything around me shook and rumbled. A blinding ray of light burst through the hole engulfing the spirit in it. With a sudden flash, the hole was gone, everything was calm and quiet, and I spiraled into nothingness…

**(A/N: **Annnnndddd done! Whew, that was just too long…I know it's just too long and slightly boring I think I'll work on this but that depends on the feedback. I just don't feel it on this one. Anyways, yeah, it was Bianca. I was about to put some poetry stuff but nothing came out at the moment so yeah, I guess I have to stick to her saying that phrase for now. Well, this story is about a quarter of its way done. Let me know what you think of it. Well this chapter kind of explained a lot of stuff like the gigantic-explosion-that-came-out-of-nowhere part and Pluto being MIA for two-thirds of the war to name a few. Anyways, stick around for the next chapters which will come out in-I don't really know- It depends. Well, read on and don't forget to review. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	13. XIII

**(A/N: **I'm back again. I don't have much to say at the moment so yeah… Chapter 13 here we go…**)**

**Chapter Thirteen: Secrets**

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I managed to register a few events but they were mostly a in a blur. At one point there was Rowena standing beside father as I lay on the field. They were watching a thousand bluish wispy smoke-like objects float upwards in a circular motion towards a radiant glow of light somewhere on the cave's ceiling. I could hear thousands of voices singing in the background like a choir singing some sort of song about goodbyes before I passed out again.

I then found myself inside a large tent with several others of my siblings. Cera had her whole upper torso being bandaged by a medic ghoul while she drinks some nectar. She had a worried expression and was looking at someone beside me. Rick's arm is being put in a cast as he mourned about his video game hand being out of commission for a while. The rest were passed out. There was a sudden flash beside me. I turned and saw Rowena breathing heavily with her hands on Ashton's chest. White wispy smoke was rising from his body. "I've cut the bonds… Now all we have to do is to wait…" She managed to say and I blacked out again.

When I finally regained my consciousness for real it was all quiet. I was still in the tent with everyone now asleep and the lights put out. I tried to sit up but my body ached all over. I also felt drained. I won't be going anywhere for a while.

"You have all done well…" A familiar voice spoke beside me. "Just as I expect from my children."

I turned to face the Lord of the Dead sitting on his silver vine chair. "Hello father."

He nodded. "I tried to come as soon as I was able. Fortunately, I wasn't too late."

As soon as he was able? He only lived like a couple of hundred meters from the mansion and he could shadow travel anywhere in less than a second. What could he be doing?

"I have certain matters to attend to at Olympus and somewhere else…" He said as if reading my mind. "My realm is in shambles but I can always rebuild. How are you feeling?"

"Just tired I guess." I laid back. "What happened back there? Back in the field?"

Pluto's expression turned grim. He flicked his hand and everything was swallowed in darkness. All I could see was the two of us with him still on sitting position and me lying on a bed made of nothing. There was no sound except for my breathing. It's like we're in a different dimension. "It was… a fulfilling of an oath. I couldn't tell you anymore but soon you'll understand. All of you will."

"What about that explosion that almost killed Ashton? And those blue smoke objects you watched floating in the air. Who is Biance di Angelo?" I knew I'm asking so much but I was totally confused at the moment. Nothing was making sense.

"One at a time child, one at a time." Pluto raised his hand. "The explosion came from my brother Jupiter. It was his only way of _helping_ us. What you saw back in the field was the ritual called the Requiem of Souls. It's such a calming sight. Rowena would explain it to you more in the future. As for Bianca…"

He paused and his expression became bitter. "He was your sister. You both are similar in many ways. You both lived in the past. Both victims of the-"

"The past?" Pain struck my temples like a nail being hammered into it. "Victims of what? You said we lived in the past. As if-"

The pain was intolerable now it was getting difficult to speak. Pluto's eyes widened as if he said something he wasn't supposed to. "Forget about everything I have said."

"You're hiding something. Just tell me what it is, father." I managed to say. "What am I really before I lost my memories?"

"Those questions are better left off unanswered." He took out an ambrosia juice box and handed it to me. I felt like this happened before. "You must be thirsty. Drink."

"No. Not again. " I put away the box. I didn't know why I said 'not again'. I feel like this has happened before. "I need some answers, father. It's all I need. Give me my memories back!"

Pluto stood up; his face stern. "Your old life will only bring you nothing but despair and harm. It is better that they stay forgotten. As for your prophecy, I know Rowena has given it to you and I also know what it says. I know very well what would happen once you fulfill it. No, I refuse to grant you your memories back."

"That's so unfair!" I blurted out.

"You will do as you're told!" He scolded. "And you will drink!"

He raised his hand and my body moved on its own. My arm shot up and grabbed the juice box. I tried to resist but all to no avail. The other hand popped a straw and I had no choice but to sip on the suspicious juice box. The nectar tasted bitter and my mind swam and I felt dizzy and nauseous. He flicked his hand and we were back in the tent.

"I'm sorry my son." He looked at me with pity as I gradually slipped out of consciousness. "You must never know..."

***xvx***

I didn't know how much time has passed since then. I opened my eyes. Everyone was still asleep. Aside from my cramped back, everything felt pretty much the same. I still remembered everything; especially what he tried to do. What is he hiding from me? What's with all this secrets!

**(A/N:** Well it's kind of short I know. Anyways, I'm still working on the next part and hopefully I'll be able to pull it through on the next three days or so. Anyways, keep reading and don't forget to review! Iron Raven out…**)**


	14. XIV

**(A/N:** And I'm back. So much stuff has happened by I doubt any of you would be interested about any of it. Anyways, back to the story. Read on…**)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Suspicions**

***xvx***

"_You have been through quite a tough time, young one…" _A familiar voice echoed in my mind. _"Pluto thinks that the same trick would work on you forever. That he can keep you from knowing everything. Such futile efforts…"_

The voice let out a deep laugh. It's obviously coming from someone really big but I couldn't see or feel anything. Everything was complete darkness.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"_He never knew that anyone who drinks water from the Lethe would be immune to its powers if that person drinks it again while still alive."_ The voice continued; ignoring my question. _"But then again, you were the only one who drank water from the Lethe twice in his lifetime. How would he know?"_

"Who are you!" I asked once more; getting agitated. I don't know how or when he got inside my head but I want him out. I also have a feeling this isn't the first time he spoke to me.

"_Now you still remember. Now you know something. It's time for you to know some more…" _The voice continued; once again ignoring my question. _"Your prophecy will be fulfilled. But in a way WE favor it to be fulfilled."_

"My prophecy? You know my prophecy?" I figured there's no point in asking him who he was. He knows something about my prophecy though. Now that's something. "Whoever you are, can you please tell me what it means?"

The voice let out a deep bellied laugh. _"You are asking me? Don't be foolish child. You don't even know who I am…"_

"Well, my own father is keeping me from it and I doubt any of my siblings would help me once he tells them not to." I replied. "There's also no point in asking about your name is it? Will you tell me or not?"

There was a long pause. I would've thought the voice left if it hadn't spoken all so sudden. It sounded delighted. _"Entrusting your life to someone whom you never even know to the slightest detail…Brave and yet naïve at the same time. If that is to be the case, you need to regain your memories first. If you wish, I will guide you, the lost son…"_

I know I just did something really stupid but there's no one else I can turn to. Besides, the voice is the only one willing to help me. "Alright, what should I do?"

"_Play along for now. Mother is still yet to put the other pieces in place. For now, just play along. Be the amnesiac they want you to be. You shall know when the right time for everything will be. You'll find out soon enough."_

And with that, the voice left; leaving me even more puzzled than before.

***xvx***

Two days after the attack, most of my siblings were back on their feet except Darwin and Ashton who were both in a coma. As I expected, father had told them to act as if I lost my memories again. They introduced themselves once more, came up with some lame excuse on how I accidentally fell on the Lethe (A giant dipped me there this time), and for the worst part: volunteered to help me with the basics once more. I went with the flow. I acted like I'm clueless of everything.

Rowena explained the cause of everything. The Underworld is like a realm that separates the bottomless pit of Tartarus and the mortal world. Lately, primeval forces from Tartarus started shifting in an alarming rate and greatly weakening the barrier between Tartarus and the Underworld. What we witnessed that day was a small breach from the barrier and father has sealed it using a method he preferred not to tell; something I witnessed first-hand. I didn't breathe a word about it though. I shouldn't be remembering anything.

Later on, I finally met the last two members of the Black Legion; Ashley, sixteen, Haley's biological elder sister and Nicholas or Nick, a lanky long haired teenager guy about seventeen with a slight Southern accent. They were both regulars and they came home after a whole month spent in the surface world. Their homecoming wasn't really delighting or anything like that. They simply appeared in the front yard battle-ridden; dragging a sorry-looking unconscious seven foot man in a dirty tattered trench coat bound in glowing silver chains with a paper bag on his head. The man I later learned was Morpheus, the god of dreams, and was one of the minor gods who went in the hiding after the last Titan War; whatever that is. I also learned that the other regulars of the Black Legion were occasionally sent out to hunt for the remaining ones like Hecate, Janus, and so on as Olympus had ordered.

So far, nobody had noticed that I'm only pretending; everyone except Cera. The way she looked at me and how those dark green eyes of hers bore to mine, I have a feeling she knows something was up. The voice seldom speaks to me but the last time he and I talked, he simply shrugged off the idea of Cera being suspicious and all. _The truth will never come out unless you confess. She can suspect, but she can't do anything else other than that._ I hope he's right…

And so here I am making my way to the infirmary. Morpheus finally agreed to the terms that his punishment would be somewhat lessened if he dispels the magic he casted on Darwin who had been in a coma for a long time thanks to him. The skeletal Roman guards stepped aside and I pushed open the doors. Every one of my siblings was already there along with Morpheus who was bound with silver chains still in his tattered trench coat but he was wearing sunglasses this time instead of the paper bag. Flanking him were Brandon and Liz with their weapons drawn. They both hadn't fully recovered yet but they looked better than the last time. Kim was sitting at Ashton's bedside checking her brother along with Ryan. Nick, Michael and Rick were by the window watching from the distance. The rest were surrounding Darwin's bed. I went over to join them.

It was the first time I took a good look at Morpheus. His face reminded me of someone from the movie we watched a few weeks ago titled The Matrix; those countless tuxedo wearing bad guys with shades that always come out of nowhere. His face was similar to that but bruised with a few cuts here and there. I found myself staring at him. His face seemed to blur the longer I stare and gradually felt tired and sleepy.

"Stop staring…" Cera gripped my shoulder from behind half-startling me. "You're already beginning to fall under his spell."

Ashley drew her sword and glared at minor god from across the other side of the bed. "No funny business. One wrong move and I'll…"

"You'll what?" Morpheus spoke calmly; his voice liquid in tone and seemed to echo. "Cut my throat and let your brother sleep forever? I can do that."

"Ashley calm down. He's immortal; you can't kill him no matter what you do." Cera walked beside her and faced Morpheus though she avoided eye-contact. "Those shackles would limit your power. Any attempts to escape and we have harsher punishments waiting for you. Now undo the spell."

"Immortal…" Ashley muttered. "I can still hurt him though. Try swallowing a Stygian iron sword for size…good luck getting that out of your system…"

"Quiet, sis!" Haley pleaded as she tugged on her older sister's sleeve.

Morpheus looked indifferent. He inched closer to the bed and glanced down on the sleeping boy. "I guess fifty years of service isn't so bad. So be it…"

He waved his hand on top of him and hundreds of purple sparkles rose up from Darwin's body and collected in his palm. He then blew on his palm and sent the sparkles scattering before dissipating into thin air. "There. Done."

Darwin's blue eyes immediately fluttered open. "I found him!" He blurted as he sat up quickly with a wild look in his eyes; his dark hair still sticking in various directions. His expression then became confused. His gaze wandered from one person to another; most of them smiling and welcoming him back except for Morpheus who towered among every one and just looked at him with a smug face. He stopped when he saw me and frowned. "I've never met you before, you a newcomer?" He asked in a thick British accent.

"Well yeah, came here about -"I stopped; not knowing what to say. Darwin gave me a look that said: _Well? _ "I don't remember actually."

Darwin frowned even more. Rick and Michael ran up to him.

"Hey Dar-dar! What's coma like?" Rick asked while Michael handed over a nectar juice box. Cera gave them a look that said:_ knock it off._

"I told you not to call me by that Patrick!" Darwin replied acting like he's irritated but then smiled and took the juice box. "I missed you too, Pat."

Rick had a silly grin on his face but then realized he was called Pat and gave out an indignant _Hey!_

Morpheus cleared his throat. "Reunions are lovely, yes, but shall we get a move on? You seem to have another patient over there. I can sense that he's almost in the same state. I say let's get this over with."

He was looking over at Ashton. Cera sighed and gave Rowena a meaningful look. The latter responded with a slow shake of her head. Cera's face fell.

"Is my brother going to be alright?" Kim asked from across the room. "You're going to wake him up right? Make him okay again?"

"Sorry Kimmy." Cera walked over to her and gave her a hug while stroking her hair. "Ashton has to come out of it by himself, okay? He'll wake up soon…trust me…"

Kim just nodded and hugged her back. Cera glanced at his sleeping figure anxiously as if she's trying hard to believe in what she just said herself.

"Very well. Now that everything's taken care of, what's next on your agenda?" Morpheus said in a rather bored tone.

"You're comin' with us. Pops wants to see you." Nick tugged at the shackles and led him outside followed by Ashley and Haley. Rick and Michael were busy catching up with Darwin while Brandon and Liz went to their rooms to rest. I was left alone standing there wondering what to do next.

"Walk with me…" Cera said as she passed by. I followed her out of the infirmary. She didn't say anything as we crossed from hallway to hallway passing by different rooms and skeletal servants. I have no idea where she was taking me but I just tagged along. We ended up in front of the glass doors of the balcony.

She pushed the doors aside and I followed her outside where we were greeted by the typical screams and moans from the tortured souls and the gushing of the flaming river of Phlegethon as it narrowed down into a waterfall filling in the vast burning lake below that surrounded the island of the Fields of Punishment. She leaned on the railing and gazed at the distance; the river giving her face an orange shade.

I shifted uneasily. "So…uh…"

"You did great back then." She said out of nowhere. I frowned; puzzled.

"Back when?"

"When the two Giants attacked. That wasn't the first time you ever experienced real battle was it?" She replied; not taking her gaze off the distance. "Even though you don't remember much, your instincts show it."

I remembered the voice's advice to _play along._ "I would've agreed with you but well…" I scratched my head and shrugged. "I don't remember any of it."

She turned and faced me with that knowing look she always gave me ever since I woke up after father tried to erase my memories again. "No, you remember it. I can see it in you."

Busted. Was the only word that's in my mind at the moment.

"But you don't remember it all." She frowned. "Tell me, you only remember those things after dad removed your memories the first time. Am I right?"

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?" I knew exactly what she's talking about. But how did she know? Is reading minds part of her ability now?

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." She answered. Yup, she can read my mind. "And no, I can't read your mind."

I dropped my arms and gave her a '_you've got to be kidding me'_ look.

She managed a small laugh which I haven't seen for a while. She looked nice with it. "You've got it all wrong. The eyes are the windows to the soul right?"

I nodded. She continued. "When I look into someone's eyes, I can read his emotions, what he's undergoing at the moment, if he has a problem, etc. It's just that your emotions strongly suggest what's going on in your mind. That's why I could determine what you're thinking which is a little similar to reading your mind. And judging by the way you're thinking at the moment, you act as if you remember."

I got not answer for that, she got me on the corner. I spoke to the voice inside me. _Now would be the right time to help me out here… You there?_

"Now you look like you're trying to get help from someone."

I flinched. "No, well yeah…but…"

"No matter how many times you call dad in your head, he won't help you. He's busy." She let out that laugh again which made me smile as well. Partly because of how nice she looked when she did it and partly because she had mistaken the voice I'm asking to be father.

She leaned on the railing with her back against it and stared at the ceiling. "Though it makes me wonder…" She trailed off.

"Wonder what?"

She exhaled; not taking her eyes off the ceiling. "Well, dad is doing his best to erase your memory. I know I could get busted for talking to you about this but it's just that I can't take all this curiosity alone. I need to tell someone what I think. You should have seen the way he talked to me about all of us having to act as if your memories were erased. He's trying to hide something and whatever it is, it's in your past. I also got a feeling he's not just hiding it from you, but from all of us."

An explosion rocked the Fields of Punishment and part of its Eastern Wall had a gaping hole in it. Cera and I watched a lone figure making a break for it; running madly across the drawbridge. Alarms blared and the drawbridge was then raised. The figure dove for the other end of the bridge as it rose in half. He missed and he went free-falling down the lake of lava where the Furies swooped in and carried him inside again but not before letting him splash around in agony for a few seconds.

"Another close call. Those guys are getting braver." Cera said; her eyes never leaving the scene. "I might assign some of you guys to take shifts in guarding it."

"Listen, about my memories-" I was about to say but she cut me off.

"I can't tell you anymore. I swore to the Styx." Cera faced me. "Besides, we really don't know you're past either."

I nodded. "I understand."

"I must have taken a lot of your time." She smiled. "Sorry for the trouble and for bringing you here. I just needed someone to talk to so I could get my mind off some stuff…"

She trailed away again. I cleared my throat. "I know you're worried about him. He'll wake up soon. He's one tough guy."

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed and her face dropped. "If only that stupid Jupiter didn't _help_ us. Ashton wouldn't be like that. He wouldn't have been hurt. He would have been right _here _with me_._"

Her voice went small as she said the last words. Meanwhile, thunder rumbled. I stared at the cave ceiling wondering how I can hear thunder from down here.

We were silent for a few moments. When Cera finally spoke it was to let me go. She looked a little better. "Thanks for the time. I needed the company. It's been the infirmary to Rowena's room and back all this two days. I needed a break. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it." I tapped her shoulder and smiled before walking to the doors.

"Oh, and by the way." She said with a smile as I was about to leave. "You should start getting to know Darwin. Now that he's awake, it's time for you to find your hellhound."

"Sure thing!" I waved and shadow travelled to my room making a note to my head to properly introduce myself to Darwin later. I always loved dogs. An extra-large one wouldn't be much of a difference would it?

"_She's an interesting piece. I should let Mother know about this." _The voice said out of nowhere.

"Great timing. Where were you back then?" I asked irritated.

"_I was there the whole time. Your sister didn't really just suspect. She knew. And besides that, she's harboring hatred towards the gods. Interesting..." _The voice chuckled.

"So…now what?" I asked.

"_Patience…patience…young Markus. Another piece is about to be put into play. Your time for action would be soon. Just be prepared when it comes."_

"How am I suppose to know when you're not even telling me anything and who's this Mother you keep talking about? How is she going to help me?"

The voice didn't reply. I slammed my fist on the bed in frustration. I'm having doubts if he really planned on helping me or not but then again I had no choice as always. I sighed, placed Desolator in my side drawer, and lay on the bed; my mind swimming through millions of thoughts until sleep came and I let it take over me. The last thought I remember was about that Mother person. The way he mentioned her was so familiar…

**(A/N: **It's been a very long time indeed. I got some newer hobbies that took most of my time from writing so yeah… But I'm back and I feel like I'll be writing some more. Thanks for all those who reviewed. Your reviews are the ones that keep me going. That's all for now. Iron Raven out…**)**


	15. XV

**(A/N: **It's been a verrryyyyy long while and I'm sorry. The past months have been really busy and I don't think it won't get better. Anyways, I've started a THO fic of mine (really irresponsible I know) and the plot is kind of connected to this one though in Percy and his friends' point of view. It's also my version of The Mark of Athena and I'm having second thoughts on it. I'll just see how it pans out. Read on!**)**

**Chapter 15: A Titanic Rising pt.1**

_SWOOSH! SWISH! SHWOOM!_

Hundreds of grey, gnarled, petrified trees zipped by as Razor cut through the dead forest; leaping over fallen logs and other obstacles with barely any effort. We were going about sixty miles per hour and I was feeling great. The wind blowing in my face, the sudden rush, it all gave me a wild kind of feeling. Razor pulled to a halt as we reached the clearing. I climbed off and ruffled his raven dark fur. "Good boy…"He was panting and his tail was wagging wildly; obviously wanting another go.

"Two minutes and fourteen seconds, not bad…" Darwin said; clicking the stopwatch. He was sitting cross-legged on top of a nearby boulder with a notepad on his lap. His hellhound was curled up all around it.

He only woke up two days ago but he had already fully recovered. It turned out that he was with Ashley and Nick's group and was hunting down Morpheus. The god of dreams caught him off guard and put him to what would have been an eternal sleep if the god hadn't been captured and forced to undo the spell. His special ability is being able to tame any Underworld-based animal. Now that he's up and going, we trainees can now have beast training. He adjusted his glasses and scribbled on his notepad before saying, "I had Bob rearrange some obstacles for you over at the East end. Ashley will be waiting for you there along with Rick and Michael. I'll go check on the others. Up we go, Brent."

He climbed on his hellhound and they rode off. I got on Razor and went to the East end which is of course at the easternmost part of the training yard. I didn't see anyone at first when I got there. A few seconds later, two hellhounds, one silvery-gray and the other pure black, suddenly burst from the woods to my left startling me and Razor. The two hellhounds tumbled into the clearing while playing tug-of war with a stick or in my case; a large log. Rick and Michael ran after them trying to separate the two. I can feel Razor shift a little. He's getting excited and he wants to join.

ROOF!

A huge raven-furred hellhound materialized between us and the other two hellhounds. One loud bark sent the other two whimpering and scurrying away with their owners running after them. Razor froze, bowed his head and whined. My hellhound was obviously still a juvenile pup about the size of a rhino while the other was the size of an elephant. A teenage girl slid on its neck and petted it. "Hey, Mark."

"Hey, Hale- I mean Ashley." I cleared my throat. They looked so identical even with the two year gap with her sister Haley who was only fourteen. She looked more mature in a way and had a slightly deeper voice though; a little taller too. But with all that aside, she and Haley were practically the same. Both were pretty. They have the same reddish-brown hair, tanned skin, almond hazel eyes and even the mole under the left eye.

"Easy there, Maddox. Sorry 'bout that. I was hoping they'll just break it up. I didn't expect them to run away." She blew some stray strands of hair from her face as she ran her hand on her hellhound's neck. "Bob's just finished preparing the course. C'mon."

She hopped on her hellhound and they bounded towards the far end of the clearing near the edge of the dead forest with such speed Razor and I barely kept up. This part of the forest had some trees parted or removed making a sizable path which leads deeper into the woods and might probably be filled with all kinds of obstacles.

Ashley took out her stopwatch and notepad. "Alright, record time for this course has been set by Brandon and Breggo with four minutes and twenty-one seconds. Second is Cera and Silver with four minutes and forty seconds and so on and so forth. Ah who cares, let's just get this over with. I still gotta check on how Haley's doing. She's always been allergic to dogs. You ready?"

I grasped Razor's collar. "Ready when you are."

"Be careful and good luck! Don't forget to thank Bob. I'll be waiting for you at the peak. GO!" Ashley clicked his stopwatch and we were off.

The course took me by surprise. This one was nowhere near the last one which only consisted of minor obstacles. It's way more dangerous. We almost fell into a deep pit and into the abyss in the first ten seconds. There were weird hissing noises emanating from it and I got a feeling that whatever it is, it isn't friendly. A few moments after that, I nearly lost my head if I hadn't ducked fast enough beneath a low fallen log with spikes. We came across a labyrinth of more fallen logs, hopped on floating ones on a dark murky swamp, leapt over wide gaping pits on the ground that is almost always unnoticeable unless you're less than five feet from it, and dodged small boulders that are purposely being thrown to us by someone somewhere above the mountain's peak which is the course's finish line.

"We're almost there. Good boy…" I muttered and ruffled Razor's ear who barked excitedly and began to pick up the pace. The mountains grew larger and larger every second. We then made a sharp right as a large boulder smashed pass us. Is it me or are those boulders getting bigger and bigger?

The mountain's base was but a few hundred feet away. That's when a loud rumble shook the whole place and stopped us in our tracks. I held on to Razor's collar tight as the tremors intensified causing numerous rockslides by the mountainsides. I looked up and the gigantic stalactites were swaying dangerously, ready to fall anytime.

Then it all stopped. Just like that. The ground was still and everything was calm and quiet. An eerie stillness settled all over the place as if it's bracing for something. It lasted a few seconds before I heard a loud _CRACK!_ somewhere below me deep underground.

A blinding flash of light followed by a huge wave of energy erupted from the ground right in front of me and my hellhound, blasting the both of us a couple of feet away and lighting up the Underworld. The two of us lay in a smoking heap as I watched the ray of light burst through the air and split into two with such force that a few stalactites rained across the fields. One of the rays of light streaked across the ceiling before crashing right onto the Fields of Punishment with a deafening explosion. The other arched downward before striking the mountain's peak ahead. Large amounts of dirt and rubble showered all around us and the mountain peak was non-existent. And that peak was supposed to be the course's finish line where Ashley and Bob would be waiting…

"Oh Styx! C'mon Razor!" My hellhound seemed to understand and we hurriedly picked ourselves up and made our way up into the now newly created plateau. I called out Ashley's name all the while as we climbed. Her life force is present but it constantly flickered unstably. Usually, it's either she's in a fight or she's in great pain. I went for the latter and hoped that she wasn't hurt that badly.

We were half-way up when I heard the clanging of metal and sounds of fighting. I finally made my way up and I was greeted by an unconscious hellhound, an enraged Ashley fighting with an equally enraged Bob, and a mysterious woman dressed in thin silky robes that seemed to flow like thick liquid on her body floating still a few meters away, all in the middle of a large fiery crater.

"YOU WILL ALL PAY THE PRICE FOR ENSLAVING ME!" Bob bellowed as he swung his 12-foot spear towards Ashley who in turn leapt backwards, the spear's tip grazing her thigh.

"Mark, stay back! He isn't Bob anymore!" Ashley said as she noticed me. Her voice filled with pain and her red hair flailing wildly from the hot wind. She looked really ragged but still alive making me wonder how she managed to survive the explosion. "She just came in and Bob just remembered who he is. He now remembers that he's Iapitus. That's impossible!"

"You spawns of Olympus are always naïve fools doing the gods' bidding and serving as puppets all for their own selfish benefit. Let me do you a favor to end your life of foolishness. " Bob, who is now officially Iapetus again, readied his spear; his pure silver eyes burning with hatred. The woman on the other hand just watched us calmly or more like watched me. Her deep dark eyes bore into mine and at that second I could feel myself totally exposed. Totally open. As if I surrendered my mind completely to her.

"Face your ANNIHILATION!" I saw Iapetus charge at the corner of my eye.

"Mark, watch out!" I barely heard Ashley's voice. I was still locked in a stare with the mysterious woman when Razor lunged, throwing me off its back. I snapped out of my trance when I heard Razor whimper. He had bit Iapetus on the shoulder but the Titan grabbed him by the neck and slammed him effortlessly to the ground. I watched in horror as Iapetus raised his spear for the final blow.

In an instant, I flicked open Desolator and with one wild dive, I hit the ground below the Titan and deflected his spear with my sword. His strength was so great that I nearly got crushed if it weren't for Ashley who jumped on his back and stabbed him with her Stygian Iron sword on the back of his skinny shoulder, distracting him.

Iapetus growled and tried to grab Ashley but she was quick and jumped over him and landed beside me before stabbing him on the stomach. I took the chance and slashed at him on the arm, letting Razor go.

The Titan was hissing in pain while grasping his wounds. I thought he was already weakening and I was proven wrong when he swung his spear and swept both of us aside. Ashley broke her fall and struck her sword on the ground. A dozen skeletal archers with longbows and in medieval English armor sprung up and prepared to fire.

Iapetus' body was covered with golden ichor from his wounds but he merely scoffed. "You Underworld maggots barely stand a chance. What makes you think the undead would have any?"

"Fire!" Ashley shouted. The archers released their arrows. Iapetus let out a maniacal laugh and swung his spear in a full arch on the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked all the arrows off and swept us away. I slammed hard into a boulder. The rest of the undead were well off to the edge of the cliff.

Ashley had been ready though and she managed to shadow travel, despite the chaos, in front of Iapetus and stabbed him right through the chest, burying her sword to the hilt. The Titan fell a few steps back and fell on his knee, obviously surprised. His eyes were widely set on the sword handle sprouting from his chest. He is beginning to turn pale as Ashley's weapon begins to absorb him.

"You're next, lady." Ashley turned to glare at the woman, panting hard.

"Never take your eyes off your enemy. That is essential in a battle is it not?" The woman spoke for the first time. Her voice sounded really different. She spoke softly but it rang on all corners of my head, thousands of echoes resonating all at once and yet I can still understand. Ashley and I grasped the sides of our heads as she spoke.

That's when I noticed Iapetus rising up, and with spear in hand, plunged it straight into Ashley's side. Time slowed. In that split-second, probably out of desperation, I managed to shadow travel beside Ashley and pull her away but it was already too late. The spear's tip was already buried about three inches on her side, passing through her ribs as she let out a cry of pure agony.

Iapetus held his blood-drenched spear tip in front of him with a wicked smile on his face. "I am still The Piercer, am I not?"

"I think I'm hit…" Ashley said shakily. She had collapsed and I was holding her trembling body. Her wound was bleeding heavily and we both aren't carrying any ambrosia or nectar. To make things worse, Iapetus was approaching us, ready to finish the job.

The Titan pulled out Ashley's blade and tossed it randomly aside as he approached. Ashley gripped my shoulder. "Get out of here…Warn the others. This is more than what both of us can take…GO!"

"I won't leave you here! I'll try to shadow travel us both. I can do this!" I tried to concentrate but that's pretty hard to do when a Titan is only a few steps away and shadow travelling requires a LOT of focus. Cera had reminded us several times that shadow travelling isn't very reliable in combat even for experts since a slight moment out of focus and it's game over.

Ashley shuddered and coughed violently. She tugged at my sleeve with desperation in her eyes. "Just go, Mark. Tell Haley I'm sorry…"

I held her hand and placed it on her side, applying pressure on her wound. Shadow travelling is impossible at this moment. I won't be able to get us out. She frowned. I looked at her and smiled. "I'm not leaving anyone behind."

"What? No-" Ashley was about to say more but another shudder prevented her.

I stood up slowly, Desolator in hand, and approached Iapetus. The Titan looked amused which fueled my anger more. I raised Desolator and aimed its tip on his face before saying. "Not one more step."

"She shall be my first kill. Try and stop me!" Iapetus lunged. I deflected his spear but I was thrown aback by a sudden force as my blade came in contact with his weapon. I managed to regain my footing and engaged at the Titan once again. I had trouble getting close since he had superior reach and he's agile for someone ten-feet tall. The fight lasted for about two minutes before he finally caught me with a spear shaft on the side of my head. It hit me with so much force my head jerked sideways and I fell on my knees before landing face down on the charred dirt.

He loomed over me, his spear raised but he seemed to have other plans. He turned towards Ashley. I pulled myself up and tried to stab him but it turned out that he was expecting it. He grabbed my arm and slammed his spear's shaft on my face. I fell on my knees with my arm still in his grip. He then pulled me upwards and slammed me into the ground. Pain exploded from my elbow and shoulder. That's when he laid eyes on Desolator.

"That weapon…" Iapetus muttered as he noticed my blade up close as if trying to remember something. "Sister, it can't be him. He can't be the one she's looking for."

"Yes." A cold palm touched my forehead. The mysterious woman was suddenly kneeling beside me. Her dark eyes bore into me once again while her voice rang in my head. "He is merely a shard of his true self at this moment. But he is the one she favors."

I struggled and tried to get up but a cold sensation emanated from my forehead and paralyzed my body. "Who are you?" I managed to croak.

"I am Mnemosyne, Titan of memory and remembrance." Her hand brushed my hair as she gave me an emotionless smile. "You need something from me Markus, as we need something from you…"

**(A/N: **Part two coming soon. I'm done with more than half of it. See ya and don't forget to review! Iron Raven out…**)**


	16. XVI

**(A/N: **Took longer than expected as usual. Thanks to the persons who reviewed including those who thought about reviewing but decided against it for some reason. I forgot to put this on the last A-note. Iapetus a.k.a Bob came from The Sword of Hades part in The Demigod Files just to inform those who haven't read or had no knowledge about it. No offense. Don't worry guys, I haven't read it either to be honest, just got the summary from a friend. Anyways, moving on. Here's part two. Enjoy…**)**

**Chapter Sixteen: A Titanic Rising pt.2**

""I am Mnemosyne, Titan of memory and remembrance." Her hand brushed my hair as she gave me an emotionless smile. "You need something from me Markus, as we need something from you…"

***xvx***

As she spoke with her hand on my forehead, like a flood, short familiar scenes suddenly flashed in my head. First, I was holding hands with a familiar looking woman who smiled and called me her "little sweet boy" while we walked unto some sort of park. Then I was underwater with a girl about my age with our arms wrapped around each other, her dark hair was waving along with the current while her sea-green eyes filled with joy as her face closes on to mine. The scene changed with me standing in a blasted warzone with several bodies littered on the ground, some of them looking strikingly familiar. Then there was me being gently laid into a dark murky river before being completely swallowed by it with the dark water shifting all around me, turning solid, becoming colder and encasing me in its icy embrace.

My mind felt so different. As if it traveled through space and time then back again. She gently removed her hand on my forehead and I felt the memories fading again. I found myself shaking my head. Not wanting to forget them but instead wanting to remember more. But she was in control. She made that clear enough. And what she wants right now is for me not to remember.

"Seek me and you shall learn more, Markus Abendroth. Gaea has plans for you. Join us and I will show you everything. All of it will finally make sense." She ran her palm in my forehead once again and more scenes flashed into my head but I saw through them like a movie in fast-forward and I could barely make out anything from it. "The Titans and Giants side by side. Olympus is ready to fall. Join our cause and you will be saved from certain doom that awaits this world and thrive in the new one, with everyone you have lost."

"Sister, we don't have much time." Iapetus reminded her but then noticed Ashley who is barely conscious and he smiled. A surge of panic washed over me as he let go of my arm and walked over to her body.

"NO!" I broke away from Mnemosyne and tried to stand but I collapsed immediately. Iapetus raised his spear. I screamed as I thrust my hand instinctively. A veil of darkness covered my vision.

"Say goodbye, little gir-" Iapetus didn't get to finish as a wave of dark energy blasted him away. I realized that it came from my hand as I stared at it, totally stunned.

"Well done. You are more powerful than you know young third-blood." She stood up gently, her gaze not leaving mine. "We will certainly meet again…in the Heart of the World. For now, farewell. Right now, my orders are to free my siblings and to deliver this invitation to you. Take your time. Consider this offer. Iapetus, it is time for us to depart. Finish her if you must."

"With pleasure." Iapetus stood up, his chest and scraggly beard was smoking. My eyes went to Ashley then back to him. I stood up but he thrust his spear in my direction and I felt a sharp piercing force strike me square in the chest. I felt it punch right through me. My vision darkened and I crumpled onto the floor.

"This time, I shall take her life." I tried to stand but my body refused. I thrust my hand again hoping for another dark energy blast but I felt really drained. I watched helplessly as he approached Ashley who was staring weakly but still defiantly back at him. "This time…"

I shut my eyes as a sickening sound of metal piercing flesh was heard but not before two identical and very familiar _whoosh _sounds of shadow traveling. Iapetus groaned. I opened my eyes to see why and I saw The Piercer with a seven-foot long black javelin piercing him on the throat. Cera leaped over Nick who held the javelin firmly on the Titan's throat and stabbed both her daggers on Iapetus' face.

"This is for Ashley!" Cera stomped her foot on the Titan's nose before sliding down his back with her daggers leaving a pair of huge trails of gaping wounds from his head down to his back. Nick pulled off his javelin and with a spin, slashed right across the Titan's chest from his shoulder to his side. Iapetus roared in total agony as he dropped his spear and collapsed on his knees, golden ichor covered his whole body.

"Enough!" Mnemosyne appeared in the middle of Cera and Nick, her hands on top of their heads. "Perhaps a curse might help you _forget_ about your problems…"

For a moment, the two looked stunned. The thought of Mnemosyne being the Titan of memory struck me. Is she wiping their memories right now?

Cera and Nick exchanged glances for a few seconds before giving each other a knowing smile. Mnemosyne frowned. "What's this?"

"Don't ya think we would've taken all this time to come here if dunno who we're dealing with? Wrong move, missy! Cera, now!" Nick ducked as Cera stabbed Mnemosyne right on the chest. Nick rolled backwards and plunged his javelin on her back. The titan gasped before exploding into thick bluish smoke. She reformed a few meters away unharmed, floating off the edge of the cliff beside a bloody but still very much alive Iapetus who glared at them.

"Lampades' charms. I should've known…" Mnemosyne's glare was equally menacing. I was wondering what she was referring to when I noticed the bright silver necklaces Nick and Cera were wearing. She glanced towards the Fields of Punishment and saw seven rays of light burst straight up through the cave's ceiling as a new wave of gigantic stalactites rained throughout the Underworld. A medium-sized stalactite about the size of a small house gave in and was making its way towards Mnemosyne who simply raised her hand and turned it to dust. "You have delayed us long enough. Well, even longer if your leader were to have intervened. By chance, he would have been able to thwart our plans but sadly that won't be happening."

"Shut up and just surrender!" Cera's voice was tight as she pointed her gold-blood drenched dagger at her. "Leave him out of this."

"It's a shame to see how the Black Legion has dwindled over the years. If only you had witnessed it back in the days." Mnemosyne sighed, feigning sympathy. "But now, you are merely a small shard of what it was before. You're too easily diverted. Too easily manipulated by the gods. Too few. Not even enough to protect each other. Think about what I said, young lady. Enough violence for one day. Iapetus, let us depart."

Iapetus gave us a mock salute with his spear along with a bloody grin. Mnemosyne gave me one last knowing glance and a feeling of understanding passed between us. Both of them began emitting a bluish glow. They glowed brighter and brighter until they turned into a ray of light which burst up into the ceiling like the others.

"I'm going after 'em." Nick was about to shadow travel but Cera held him back.

"Our charms' effects only work here in the Underworld. They didn't have enough time to make those kinds of charms that work on the surface." Cera said, obviously troubled. Nick cursed.

Darwin appeared a few seconds later with Brent. "I got the medical supplies as you requested, Cera."

"Nick, bring Mark over to Ashley. Darwin, prepare me 500ml of nectar on the double!" Cera ordered as she knelt beside Ashley.

"Aye!" Darwin fumbled on the med kit's contents.

"Hey, you doing alright?" Nick slung my arm on his shoulder and he took me to them. Ashley was breathing shallowly and it's obvious that she had lost a lot of blood. She still managed a weak smile though. "I had…no idea what just happened. But great job anyway you guys..."

"I'll go check on the animals." Darwin rose up and ran to check on Razor.

Cera filled up a syringe with the right amount of nectar. She then tied Ashley's arm tightly before injecting the nectar in her vein in small amounts at a time. "Injecting nectar is risky but can be done if you're careful. Hang in there, sis."

Ashley winced for a moment and then sighed. Nick was applying pressure on her wound with a cloth dipped in nectar. Her eyes fluttered. "That was one heck of a ride…Hey, Mark. You alright?"

"Yeah. I have you to thank for that." I managed to say.

"Nah, you saved me to. I guess we're even." She sighed as she closed her eyes, smiling. "Thanks guys. I think I'll rest for a while. So tired."

"You deserve it." I sat beside her as Cera dressed her wounds. Darwin had shadow-traveled away along with our hellhounds.

A few minutes later, she had taken care of me and Ashley's wounds. "Give it about ten minutes before she's safe to be shadow traveled." Cera advised. She still looked troubled.

"What's wrong, sis?" Nick finally asked.

"Where is everyone?" Cera asked as she gazed into the ruins of the Fields of Punishment.

"Well, like you said, I sent Rick, Haley, Ryan and Michael to guard the outside perimeter of the Fields while Brandon and Liz went in there to get things done. Wen's up in her room with Kim doing surveillance as always. They'll be safe as long as they're with each other. Why'd you ask?"

"It's Mnemosyne. The stuff she said just makes me feel I don't know…nervous." Cera replied as she finished packing up the medical kit. "She said we're too few and easily diverted. Obviously we have at least one of us watching someone's back and-"

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, Styx!"

She dropped her med kit and picked up her daggers.

"Now wait just a darn min-" Nick was about to say but Cera cut him off.

"Nick, stay with Ashley and Mark until they can go back. I need to check on Ashton." She sounded almost in the verge of panic as she shadow traveled away.

**(A/N: **That ended as I expected it would. Already working on the next chapter. I've been really busy lately and I don't know how I pulled this one through. I'll try posting up the next one as soon as I can. I've used some unexplained terms here but I promise that they'll be explained later on. See yas! Iron Raven out…**)**


	17. XVII

**Chapter Seventeen: Ashton Wakes**

"Wen, I need you for a sec-" Cera burst into Rowena's room and stopped cold when she saw her and Kim sprawled on the floor. "No..."

She dropped down beside them and checked their vital signs. They were normal. It's just as if they were...sleeping. Five of Rowena's observer spectres were also around the room but they had been put into a dormant state and were floating passively. The Fields of Punishment has gone out of control. Its prisoners are trying to escape even right this moment. And she knows one particular prisoner who could do this.

She laid them beside each other on the carpeted floor. One observer spectre, a teenage boy on a baseball uniform materialized in the room and was surprised to see his mistress unconscious. Cera turned to him. "You, warn all my other siblings to watch out for Morpheus. Tell Nick to bring Ashley and Mark here, not to the infirmary. Go!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" The spectre hurriedly went on his way.

Cera shadow-travelled in front of the infirmary but it wasn't there; where the entrance should have been was nothing but a solid wall. The infirmary doors instead, had replaced the door leading to the snack bar. She scoffed at the thick mist that lay before her. Even a demigod can be fooled by a mist this thick but not her. Not her eyes.

She concentrated and the mist dispersed, revealing the real infirmary doors. Cera drew her daggers and kicked the door open. Morpheus was at Ashton's bedside, the God of Dreams' hand about to touch Ashton's forehead.

Morpheus noticed her and quickly removed his hand. Cera was on his throat in a second. Her eyes fixed on his in a death glare as the Stygian Iron daggers dug eagerly on his skin. Her voice was filled with venom in every word. "Just what do you think you're doing to him?"

"At ease, young miss. I mean him no harm." Morpheus swallowed and backed away a few steps. "You got through and dispelled the mist. Not many can do that. I'm impressed."

Cera dug her daggers on his neck a little harder and backing him against a wall, drawing a small amount of ichor which the daggers absorbed. Her glare intensified. "Enough garbage. Why the heck are you here? Talk!"

"I only mean to help." Morpheus raised his hands. They were still bound by silver shackles which limits his powers. "Your two other sisters will awaken a in a few minutes I never meant eternal sleep for them. Just enough to-"

"Enough time to do your dirty work here. Isn't that it?" Cera cut in, finishing his sentence. She was losing her patience with this guy.

"Olympus was meant to survive. The last Titan War already convinced me." Morpheus' voice was strained from the blades in his throat. "This time I'm on your side. I see that he is very dear to you and the others and I also recognize this kind of slumber. I only meant to guide him. Help him find his way back."

"You are aware that he should find his way back on his own." Cera's expression didn't change. "And you also know something bad would happen if he is woken up by someone else!"

"I was about to leave all the waking to him. All I was planning to do is guide him on his way." Morpheus reasoned. "I wasn't going to violate any of your Medium's instructions. You of all people should understand."

Cera was glaring at him all this time. His face shifted occasionally while his eyes change colours from gray to green to blue then onyx then back again. Just looking at him would've made her curl up and sleep if it weren't for her special ability. She read his eyes. He really meant to help that's for sure. But for what reason?

Cera gradually lowered her daggers. She glanced at Ashton's sleeping form. His face looked troubled as if having an unpleasant dream or maybe even a nightmare. She had always wondered when he would come out of it and on rare occasions, she would inevitably come to a conclusion that he won't wake up at all. She felt so helpless. She always promised herself to be there for him. Wherever he goes, she'd follow even to Tartarus itself. And yet, here she is unable to help him in any way. With him, gone somewhere she can't follow.

But now, someone is capable of helping him. Morpheus here can make it happen. But she knew she couldn't just trust him. But still...

"Cera, Mark's watching over Ashley and the others. Came here in case you need help." Nick had materialized by the doorway.

"I'm fine." Cera's tone was firm as if she just made a decision. "Take Morpheus to Rick and the others. I'll stay here for a while."

"Alright, move it!" Nick prodded Morpheus on his back with the blunt end of his javelin, escorting him out. Unknown to them both, Morpheus had a microscopic smile on his lips. Trust him or not, she was already too late. Ten seconds too late.

Once they left, Cera collapsed on the chair by Ashton's bedside. Her gloved hands covered her face as she let out a deep breath. Despite her effort to fight it, tears came in seconds. She almost did it, almost gave in into the temptation, and almost made another foolish decision that would have endangered one of her siblings. Just like how she allowed her siblings to have animal training in the far edges of the Underworld despite the threat of beings escaping through the weakened barriers of Tartarus. Just like how she decided against the idea of having one or two of her siblings guard the Fields of Punishment confident that the Fates are enough.

"I can't do this anymore. Not when I'm alone. Not without you here." She told him. "I can't make the right decisions the way you can. I'm scared! I don't know what to do anymore!"

Ashton's face remained static; no signs of him hearing her in any way but she continued. "I almost made him wake you. I'm just that desperate. I want you back..."

She buried her face on the bed as she sobbed. She remembered the promise he made two years ago. When he found her amidst the burning ruins of the estate she once called home, beside the lifeless body of her stepfather. _Trust me. I'll be here for you from now on. That's a promise._

She missed him, missed his voice, his smile, and those brown eyes that have that mysterious glint in them that somehow suggests that he always knows better, that he always knows more than he lets on. And yet could still give her a look that made her feel that she's one of the persons that matters most to him or so she thought.

It's been a long while but she knew she had to be strong for the sake of everyone else who looked up to her to take lead. What would Ashton say if he were here? She always asks that question to herself. It helps her decide.

She took a deep breath and wiped her tears away before standing up and fixing her messy hair, silently cursing herself for having a stupid emotional breakdown. There were lots to do and loads of mess to clean up. Before deciding to leave, she turned to Ashton and strokes his hair, speaking in her soft gentle tone only he is allowed to hear. "Wake up soon, okay? Kim and the others miss you. I, miss you... I, lo-"

She stopped mid-sentence and sighed. Even with him in a coma, she still can't manage to say that. Her gaze went down to his static lips and her heart skipped a beat. No, she won't take advantage of the situation. Not now, not ever. She shook her head and turned around but quickly spun back, leaned over and planted a kiss right at the edge of his mouth.

"Okay..." Cera could hardly breathe as she pulled away and took a few steps backward, realizing what she just did. Her first intention was a simple sisterly-kiss. THAT was nowhere near a sisterly-kiss. She had to get out of this place before she explodes or worse, go further. She turned around but something tugged at her hand. No, not something, but someone.

She slowly turned and saw that it was his hand. His eyes, half-lidded, were staring at her. A small smile on his lips.

He's back.

**(A/N: **First chapter with the A/N only at the end! Now, I don't know why this chapter got all mushy and stuff. My imagination was just on fire from months of fanfic deprivation and I just went on with what it came up with. Before I knew it, here it is. Anyways, I'd like to know what you think about the story so far; especially if you're okay about the stuff going on with Cera and Ashton. Yeah, it's somehow incest-related but I've already explained why I don't find it that offensive for me. Anyways, I'd like to know how you readers are taking it. Feel free to review. I appreciate it more than a Favourites/Alerts-add to be honest since I really get to know what you think about it. Well, until the next chapter! Iron Raven out...**)**


	18. XVIII

**(A/N: **Haven't updated in a while. So preoccupied lately. Huge thanks to **Intelligent Goddess 371**,** Musicality101**,and** Shia F **for being the latest reviewers. This chapter is all about Ashton's journey to consciousness. Hope I didn't make it that long and boring. Read on…**)**

**Chapter Eighteen: Enter the Mind**

***xvx***

Ashton spat on the ground through his bloody lip as dust swirled around him. Undead forces surrounded him protectively as they continued to push the Earthbornes back.

"Sir, shall I escort you to the command center?" A skeletal marine stopped and asked.

Ashton picked up his blades. "We're almost near the breach. I say we keep it up and try to hold them till dad gets back."

"Roger that!" The marine slapped a fresh magazine on his M4 before joining the fray.

He glanced at the gates. The Keres were doing a great job destroying the old-school defences like the catapults. But most of the modern ones that Pluto and his architect Daedalus were still intact though there weren't many of them since they haven't fully implemented it yet. Only about a dozen machineguns and SAM launchers for now. Brandon and Liz were working overtime fending off both Earthbornes and Keres but it looked like they were holding off pretty well.

A hundred more Earthbornes down and Ashton could barely breathe properly. The Earthbornes weren't much of a problem but his blades were. He stuck his swords on the ground and heaved for some oxygen. He cursed himself for being out of shape; for not being able to handle the strain for more than fifteen minutes. It's been quite a while since he last used them and that last time still gnawed at him with guilt and regret.

One of the Keres noticed him and swooped down with its talons. He knew he couldn't evade fast enough so he raised his hand, aimed it at the monster and blasted it away with a burst of dark energy. The creature blew up in a cloud of silvery-purplish dust.

He glanced around warily. He knew that most of his siblings had already gone back but it won't hurt to be extra sure. After all, manipulating dark energy is one of the many things they aren't supposed to know. Though even if they did, there's a high chance they won't be able to use it.

A cheer erupted from the undead army as the Earthbornes rallied back to the chasm whence they came; all of them, even the ones in the gates. A desperate wounded Earthborne who hadn't fully vaporized yet charged at him. He stepped back, touched the monster's arm and shadow-travelled it a hundred feet in the air. He watched as it plummeted down and got impaled into a stalagmite before disintegrating.

He gripped his swords tightly, ready to finish the job. It was after he took one step forward that he sensed it. A far off rumbling, getting louder and louder. The amount of power, the crackling sound, the hairs standing abruptly on his body, the smell of ozone, it took a split-second for Ashton to realize what was coming: a blast from the master bolt.

Despite of his disbelief of what's actually going on, his thoughts flashed of his sibling by the gates and the coliseum. Depending on where the bolt hits, it could kill them all.

_Here goes nothing_. He thought. The coliseum was somewhere behind him, a little to the left. The gates were directly to his right and the master bolt is somehow aimed at it. He stretched his arms and summoned as much dark energy as he could, erecting a barrier that span from the area around him to the gates. The ceiling cracked and split apart with unimaginable force. The power of a hundred nuclear explosions tore off the Underworld.

The thought of protecting his siblings was the only thing that mattered. He managed to cushion most of the explosion for a few seconds before the overextended barrier finally gave in. He held on to his blades as he got swept off along with his undead army. The shockwave swept him more than a hundred feet away, smashing his body on the mud, scattered debris, and boulders.

His broken body lay on the soft, wet ground. His breathing coming in very shallow breaths but he managed to say as he stared into the ceiling. "Damn you, Jupiter. You're not taking any of them this time...Not on my watch...Not on...my...watch..."

He slowly blacked out, thankful that he could still sense all of his siblings' life forces.

***xvx***

Ashton sighed as he shut the door, sending echoes across the hallway. He's been wandering this desolate corridor for quite some time now, opening hundreds of doors each holding a random piece of his memory. He doesn't really know how long he'd been here but it couldn't have been more than three weeks. After all, Rowena said that time flows much more slowly inside the subconscious realm.

The common idea for most people of the subconscious realm being in a state of calm and peace was a total lie. Well at least in his case. It was an endless maze of deserted barely lit hallways each having dozens of doors new and old like those in haunted manors on classic horror films. Strange thin greenish-mist clung in the damp air. A loud bang or knocking sound echoed somewhere occasionally. There were almost constant hissing noises like hushed voices from under the creaky floor boards, beyond closed doors, and behind aged, peeling walls. He was creeped out at first but got used to it overtime and had learned to ignore it. Apparently, nothing can get scarier than getting stuck in one's own subconscious mind for eternity.

Ashton cursed silently in frustration. Rowena advised that there's no pattern to how the place is projected in his mind so he won't find any helpful clues by the appearance of the place but he gave it a try nonetheless and she was right. Every door on every hallway, the memories just seemed randomly placed from random dates and times. The only way out is by pure chance, finding the door that serves as the pathway back to existence.

On one door, he relived how he spent his early childhood in his hometown in Gavle, Sweden. Another showed him the time he, Kimmy and his mother moved to the US where he was barely seven. Then there was when he was brought to the Underworld, the times when he trained and was made into a full-fledged member of the Black Legion. And also the last time Blake had talked to him. It was also the last time he saw his older brother and the rest of the Second Generation of the Black Legion.

He approached the next door and held his breath as he prepared to open it. There was a click as he twisted the rusty knob and his vision was filled with a bright light as he swung it open.

***xvx***

Ashton stared into the Gulf of Bothnia. The calm, close to icing waters where a complete opposite to his troubled mind. Mist came out as he exhaled and shuffled in his thick winter clothes, trying to calm his mind for the eventual shadow-travelling. He was at least a mile away from camp and any monster he might attract when he shadow-travels would be far enough to wander accidentally inside the camp's borders.

"How could you?" A voice spoke behind him full of hurt and anguish. "You promised you wouldn't kill Dustin. You promised me that because you love me! How could you?"

Aston stared at the snow in his feet and didn't try to face her. If only he can just explain everything. If only he had another choice. "I'm sorry. Some promises are meant to be broken if you want to keep another. He was a demititan. A son of Pallas. We tried hard to keep it a secret. We really did. But it wasn't hard enough and Olympus ordered me to take him down."

Her voice broke as she stomped her foot in the snow. "You killed this camp's leader. He was a brother to me and he was your best friend. And you would kill him just because some group of gods who doesn't care about this camp ordered you to? Yes, he was a demititan, one of the last of his kind. But he was more human than most people I've met."

"Do you think I wanted this?" Ashton shot back. He wasn't mad at her but he was mad at how he has the reason for everything but he can't explain it to her since he had sworn to the Styx not to. "If my life is the only one on the line, I won't hesitate not to follow that order but it's not that way."

"Then tell me what else is on the line? What are you trying to protect that's so important you would betray the camp that took your family in and gave you sanctuary? The reason why you would kill the very person that saved your life. The very reason that just broke the two of us." Her words cut deep and he just stood there silently for a few seconds, having the answers but unable to explain anything.

"Goodbye, Tanya." He finally said; his voice an empty husk. "You have every right to hate me and sure, be my guest but I want you to know this. What I did was to preserve something I was sworn to protect since birth and I will do everything to protect it, even if it means giving up everything that makes me human."

They both heard a distant roar. Monsters had picked up their scent and would be upon this place in a few minutes.

"Leave." Tanya's voice was firm and cold as the weather itself. "I hope that reason of yours is worth the mouthful you've said and did."

He left without another word and the whole scene vanished.

***xvx***

Ashton literally slammed the door shut. He leaned on the wall beside the door and wiped his face with his hands. Of all the things that door can show him, why that one? That very scene almost two years ago back in that demigod camp in Sweden. The last time he had used the Blades on someone human.

His hands shook as he recalled how the Blade of Pain and Fear passed through Dustin. How he slowly, agonizingly succumbed to the nightmare. His screams flooded his head. His knees hit the floor with a thud as he pressed himself on the wall. The image of Dustin's degrading body kept on flashing in his mind. He grasped his head, trembling, trying to make it all stop.

It took a while. All the visions in his head were so real it felt like it happened again. Maybe it's another effect of being stuck in this realm. It took a few minutes for him to recover. He found himself sitting by the wall hugging his legs. A cold draft blew across the hallway.

Just then, he felt it. Something was drawing him like a magnet, urging him to move on. He picked himself up and let the strange feeling lead the way. He walked past doors he hadn't opened yet and worried that one of them might be the right one but he let it drop. It was getting stronger. He simply followed it and soon ended up in front of an ordinary looking door. Nothing special in it. Just plain like most others. He wouldn't have suspected.

He remembered Rowena's warning. He should find it by himself alone. If anything or anyone manages to appear and help him, he shouldn't trust them. But here he is. The feeling is stronger than before and he was totally sure something different is behind this one. Whether it's the way out or not, he still wasn't sure but it was the best bet.

A mental toss of a coin. He reached for the handle. As his fingers came in contact with the cold steel, he felt some sort of warmth in his face, somewhere near his mouth. The warmth spread through his face and then all over his body. A soothing warmth that calmed him and made his chest flutter strangely with happiness. Something he had only experienced with Tanya long before. He took it as an encouragement and he gripped the handle and opened it.

***xvx***

He found himself lying down on a bed, still reaching forward, but this time he wasn't holding the door's handle. Cera's hand gripped his as she slowly turned to him. Her face was wet as if she'd been crying but her eyes were wide in shock. He couldn't believe it either.

He couldn't have been happier to see her. Never been happier to be back.

**(A/N: **And done! Read and review people! Reviews are my fuel. Waiting eagerly for Mark of Athena. Iron Raven out…**)**


	19. XIX

**(A/N: **Terribly sorry for the eons spent before this update. I decided to give my fanfics a shot once again and see if I still have it. I guess you could decide about that. Read on... **)**

**Chapter Nineteen: Threats and Priorities**

"Hey..." Ashton managed. He felt like he hadn't used his voice in ages.

"Hey?...HEY?!" Cera flared as she faced him, almost squeezing his hand in a vice-grip. "That's all you can say after sending Mark and I off promising me you'll be fine only for you to use your Blades for a long time beyond what your body can take then being stupid enough to catch a master bolt blast before coming back half-dead then being kind enough to slip into a coma and leave me wondering day and night if you'll ever wake up and now you did like some hot guy playing Sleeping Beauty and all you can say is HEY?"

"Well someone else did all the talking. You done?" Ashton managed to say a little teasingly after a few awkward seconds of silence only occasionally interrupted by Cera's panting. She looked like she's ready to kill him, about to hug him, or just faint on the spot, all at the same time. She looked so cute he couldn't help but grin.

"Uhuh, yeah I'm done..." She wiped her eyes and sniffled. He had been staring at her this whole time and she'd been doing her best to avert his gaze, focusing on every inch of his face except for his eyes. Those beautiful sacred mellow brown eyes she would never dare to read nor even gaze for more than three seconds.

Ashton's smile widened as he pulled her to him. She felt a switch flip as she found herself automatically lunging at him, tackling his lithe body down the bed earning her a grunt from him. At that moment, nothing else mattered to her. No pea-brained Olympian gods bombarding their home, no monstrosities from Tartarus threatening to break free again even as they lay there, no impending war growing in the surface world, no Black Legion, nothing. Just the two of them in that single infirmary bed with her crying her eyes out on his chest, feeling his hand glide soothingly on her back as he held her without any words said.

She hadn't cried this hard. Not since she was fourteen, almost two years ago. Both of them holding each other in a tight embrace by the basement entrance of her family's burned down estate. Just the two of them in their own world if they won't count the lifeless body of her stepfather down the basement covered in Cyclops dust.

Maybe by coincidence, he was thinking back on the same day as he ran his hand on her messy tangled dark hair leading him to believe it's been a while since she even showered or slept properly. He'd seen her broken to a point where she didn't care what happens next, had given up on life. He never wanted her to be like that again. He wanted her to be happy, to actually enjoy living what little time a child of Pluto has in this world before the unknown beyond. He pretty much wanted the same to go for every member of the Black Legion which is why he was the only one who shouldered the 'real work'. The same way his brother and some of those before him did. Those gruesome tasks they were ordered which the Olympus deemed too dark and degrading for their image or their demigods to do but must be done to maintain order in this decaying system. No other demigod knows more of Olympus' dark secrets than he does.

She gradually settled down to small sobs. The chest and shoulder part of his shirt was damp as he kept holding her, waiting for her to calm down completely as he felt her heartbeat drumming wildly against his chest. He tucked some more of her hair behind her ear and wiped her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Better?"

She sighs and nods looking up at him with her chin still pressed against his chest, averting his gaze and focusing on his mouth instead. His lips were slightly parted and she could feel herself being drawn to it. There couldn't be a more perfect timing or opportunity. She mentally shook her head and wished she could beat her inner thoughts to a pulp so it would stop with the fantasies already. It was pure torture. "Don't scare me like that again."

"I'll try but I can't promise anything." He chuckled softly as he studied her closer. She'd grown. From more ways than one. From that timid confused girl to this beautiful sixteen-year old who can hold her ground against a Giant. He's aware of her attraction to him to some degree since they first met. Heck, he'd have to be a complete idiot not to. At first, he dismissed it as just some schoolgirly-crush or just some form of admiration a younger sibling would feel towards her older brother. He even used to tease her with it but as time passed, it became more and more obvious that it was something more. Or had grown to something more. And the more that attraction became apparent, the more he became unsure and even in a sense, afraid, of how to deal with it. It's not that he's new to relationships but this one isn't exactly the same case as Tanya's. And he thought _that_ was already a complicated one.

She'd been avoiding his gaze as usual so he simply massaged her shoulders gently. He'd learned not to ask why since she would just get dodgy with it. The longer he stared the more he felt it growing in his chest and pushing out that warm comforting feeling he always felt when he's with her. That feeling of uncertainty creeping up and reminding him of the fact that she was still his half-sister. As the elder sibling he's to set the right examples to the rest. As Praetor and Enforcer, he's not even supposed to be attached to any of them as much as possible which to him proved to be the hardest and most impossible responsibility to fulfill. He doubted that any of those before him managed to actually do that and was pretty sure Blake hadn't either.

"Listen, I-" And just like that, his voice caught in his throat like he tried to vomit a brick. Cera waited patiently with a bit of anticipation. How can he break it to her that they can't go down that road? Is this the right time? Is he even sure he doesn't feel the same way for her? That he wants them together as well? What would the others think? The more questions that arose, the more he became confused and the more his courage dwindled. He couldn't think of a more complicated situation.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering how long I was out. And are the others doing good?" With a sigh of defeat, he went back to stroking her hair making her giggle softly, snuggling even more. Some other time maybe? He wouldn't want to spoil a happy moment. She rarely had those.

"It's been a while and things have escalated. We're all still fine but it wasn't easy. _You_ didn't make it easy. I have a lot to fill you out and most of it you wouldn't like." Ashton held her and laid back. He'd just came by and yet he felt all his energy drained out of him already. The thought of leaving all those burden for her and the others to handle drained him even more. But she kept them all safe and in line. Filling in his shoes as much as she can, he owed her a lot. "But can we do that later? I just want to stay like this for a while..."

"I don't mind. Just don't drool on my shirt." He chuckled and kissed her forehead. The latter being so sudden and seemed instinctive. He could feel her stiffen then relax, purr even. He mentally cursed and shook his head. Don't encourage her!

Someone cleared his throat by the doorway and both snapped their heads at the sudden noise. Nick was standing between the double doors left ajar, tomato-faced and as stiff as the Stygian Iron javelin he's holding.

"Uhhhh...I ain't seen nothin'! Ah swear!" He blurted out in a Southern accent he usually hides. He shook his head in denial as Ashton and Cera awkwardly pulled away from each other in slow-motion as if Nick wouldn't notice, both blushing profusely. He cleared his throat again and tried to come up with more excuses but ended up stammering a few times before getting his brain to create proper sentences and mask his accent again. He ended up speaking in a monotone. "Morpheus is locked up. Liz was injured and I brought her to Ashley and Mark. I came here and was about to ask you if it's okay for them to be transferred here. But then..."

He trailed off and by this time Ashton had recovered. Ashton ran a hand on his own messy brown hair and assured his brother. "It's fine, Nick. Really. Though I gotta ask now. What just happened? You and Cera both looked like you've been to Tartarus and back."

"A group of someone elses actually did that and we tried to stop them." Cera spoke, her face falling. She'd also gotten over the unexpected moment and had climbed off the bed, fixed her hair as much as she can and straightened out herself before she spoke. "Blasted a new hole from Tartarus, through the Fields of Punishment and off to the surface to join Gaea. I'm sorry but we weren't able to stop them. They caught us off-guard."

"Kind of missed that part right there. Sorry. We have Oceanus." Nick had a stupid grin on his face but also a proud one. Cera's defeated expression turned into utter disbelief. "I helped but it was mostly Liz. Brandon played a large part too when he came. You should've seen those two work. Man, they trashed him and left his sorry hide impaled by the drawbridge."

Ashton had to nod, totally impressed but not really surprised. It's something he'd come to expect from one of the best tandems in their Legion and also the fact that the Titan was nowhere near his domain and might still be in a weakened state. But with Brandon's strength, Liz's speed, and their minds and fighting style in sync, the power of their teamwork is always a force to be reckoned with. One that even rivaled his own and Cera's.

Nick was about to say more but they heard an excited girl's squeal outside and a couple of footsteps. Kim burst into the room, almost knocking aside Nick, and made a cannonball dive for Asthon. He barely had time to brace himself.

"Okay, okay, I missed you too..." Ashton grunted painfully at his screaming midsection. Cera tried to pry her bear hug a little to allow Ashton to at least breath. "How's my baby sister?"

"That Morpheus guy made me and Wen sleep but Mercury woke me up with gum balls! I missed you!" He chuckled and ruffled his little sister's curly hair but then stopped.

"Mercury's here?" He frowned and Kimmy pointed at the door where Nick was already bowing at the lately-announced guest. The three remaining demigods bowed as well.

Mercury raised a hand, signalling them to be at ease. He was wearing a simple red toga adorned with thin golden trims, winged sandals allowed him to float half a foot from the ground with Caduceus in hand, his expression stoic. The snakes on his Caduceus hissed and slithered all around the handle in a seemingly endless loop. "Good day, Black Legion. I did the honor of ridding your siblings of a forceful slumber. Now I need a brief time alone with your leader. If I may?"

His tone clearly wasn't asking but demanding. Nick took Kim by her shoulders and stirred her out of the room. Cera stayed by Ashton's bedside even as the god eyed her. Ashton waved her to follow the two mouthing the words _I'll be fine._

She looked uncertain and a little stubborn but soon obeyed as the god's expression turned to a dangerous and typical _do-as-I-say-or-this-place-explodes _look. With one last worried glance, she hesitantly shut the doors behind her.

Mercury adjusted his toga. The two snakes were oddly quiet today save for the constant hissing. He breathed a few times before finally speaking. "Jupiter wishes to inquire about your current condition. I can see you have quite recovered. He will be pleased."

"For dad's sake, he's worried I needed to be replaced soon!" Ashton smirked and laughed humorlessly at the feigned sympathy. He abruptly stopped and became serious once more, cursing himself mentally for letting his bad emotions take over. Well, it's not entirely his fault. Jupiter had really done it that time. He held Mercury's gaze solidly before speaking again. "Kimmy's not yet ready and there's no way in Tartarus that I'm going down before she is."

"He is aware of that and is clearly anxious. You being out of action had resulted in a chain of events which favored Gaea. Greatly." Mercury shook his head, his tone dead serious. "Titans have entered the fray once more and Olympus' forces are in the brink of desperation."

"Well, tell him to learn about the words _collateral damage_ next time. Or at least try aiming for the _real _enemies. What about that huh?" Ashton sat up straighter. His vision began to swim but he just couldn't help it. "My Legion is doing what they can and it sounds to me that you're blaming us for these Titans and needed more of our help with it. What more do you Olympians want?"

The god seemed taken aback a little. It was the truth. But he pressed on, his face softening a degree. "Jupiter needs all of Olympus' forces. There are still camps across the globe that are unaware or unable to reach out aid to us. We on the other hand are already stretched too thin and do not have the resources to reach out to them in return. If you could-"

"Wait, wait." Ashton cut him off a little harshly, forgetting that he was talking to an Olympian god. "So you want us to leave the Underworld and help out in the surface?"

"You, especially you, have good connections to most of the camps in Europe and Eurasia. Take your former camp for one. They just didn't aid us because they can't, it's because they refused and it's taking Jupiter all his patience not to eradicate them in sight than risk having them join the wrong side. Besides, I am not here to ask for your aid, I am sent here to deliver the order to you. Convince these camps to join our cause or they suffer annihilation in the hands of Jupiter himself."

"He's that desperate? Has he forgotten what he made me do to my former camp? I _killed_ their leader!" His eyes narrowed at the god in disbelief and disgust. Had Pluto stood up for them about this? He probably had but it was obvious he was outvoted and overwhelmed. Very few ever joined the Underworld's side. Ashton rubbed his weary face and contemplated on another thing the god said. "He's afraid of them joining the wrong side huh? I wonder which wrong side he's referring to?"

"Careful with your words, Enforcer. You of all people should know your place." Mercury's words screamed extreme caution. "Let us be cooperative shall we? Annihilation is the fate I least favor for those camps. Well, second to being pawns to the Gaea."

"And you Olympians should know that my Legion's the reason why there isn't more of those Titans and Giants up there." The word _annihilation_ have a bad history with him and his past siblings and he cringed visibly at hearing it. But as much as he was dedicated to the safety of the Black Legion's members, they all still answer ultimately to Olympus. In short, they had no choice. Ashton tried to stand but his leg bones felt fragile as glass, ready to give at a moment's notice, and he sat back with a silent curse. He cannot afford to show weakness. So far, he did quite a sub-standard job. "My Legion shall answer the call, _again. _I'll round up whatever force I can. Give me three days to prepare. Ugh..."

"You are still greatly weakened. Allow me." Mercury fished out a bottle from his toga and Ashton immediately regretted it.

**(A/N:** I'll try to update whenever I can but I can give any guarantees. See ya! Iron Raven out…**)**


End file.
